September 14, 2006

Weekly Pix

RCN Tabs BigBand for Simulcast Infrastructure

BigBand Networks said today that RCN, a provider of triple play cable, high-speed Internet and phone services, selected the BigBand's BMR (Broadband Multimedia-Service Router) to implement digital simulcast in its markets. RCN will use the BMR to manage program line-ups, control video quality and bandwidth efficiency, insert local advertising, and transport video content between facilities.

SeaChange Partners with Integra5 for European Quad Play

At the IBC show in Amsterdam, SeaChange International and Integra5 announced full interoperability between SeaChange's TV Platform and Integra5's i5 Converged Services Delivery Platform (i5 C-SDP). The combined solution will enable European IPTV operators to deliver an expanded portfolio of converged quad-play applications and services across multiple home devices, including TV sets and PCs.

Verizon, DirecTV Team Up to Combat Cable MDU Triple Play

Verizon and DirecTV entered into a new agreement to collectively serve the MDU market with a bundle of services that they say will provide better choice and value when compared to cable. The multi-year agreement will enable Verizon to serve as the single point of contact for a bundle of offerings that includes Verizon's broadband and telephony services in addition to DirecTV's content and services. Verizon will offer the DirecTV bundle in locations where it does not offer its own entertainment services.

NPS Launches RFD-TV in Digital Package

RFD-TV, which bills itself as "the only full time TV network servicing rural America," has launched on NPS's Absolute Digital package, joining a lineup of over 60 digital video networks. Now in its sixth year of broadcasting, RFD-TV serves "the needs and interests of rural America, horse lovers, farmers and ranchers with traditional, family-oriented television programming." The network serves more than 28 million cable and satellite homes in the United States.

Report Says MPEG Encoder Market in Major Transition

The market for real-time broadcast MPEG encoders is moving to H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC Part 10), mainly in the satellite and telco TV delivery platforms today, but the switch will extend to all segments of the MPEG encoder market, reports In-Stat. The need to repurpose content for multiple screens is also driving encoder shipments, the high-tech market research firm says. For example, content that is distributed in MPEG-2 may be decoded and then re-encoded to H.264 in a mobile video system.

Along the same lines, The MPEG encoder market is expected to continue to grow through 2007, according a study by Dublin-based Research and Markets. Factors driving growth include  analog transmission systems moving to digital, more content being produced in HD as opposed to SD, and more content transmission platforms using H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC Part 10) instead of MPEG-2.