- Hybrid set-top boxes (STBs) are rapidly being deployed by pay-TV operators worldwide to help them deliver advanced services and manage bandwidth scarcity in broadcast networks. In 2010, only 40 percent of STBs worldwide featured hybrid capabilities, with many not yet enabled by software as operators were not ready to deploy IP video services. Hybrid box penetration will rise above 60 percent by 2016 as operators look at IP-based video on demand (VOD) and advertising solutions, as well as interactive content. Hybrid set-top boxes have the ability to decode video sent over the Internet or over two types of networks (such as satellite and terrestrial). “Huawei has powered to first in IPTV set-top box market share from a distant fourth – a sign that APAC IPTV growth will outpace that of Europe in the coming years,” says Jason Blackwell, practice director, digital home. “Pace is once again the worldwide leader for set-top box shipments, with Motorola remaining in second place, and Technicolor a close third.” Sam Rosen, senior analyst, digital home, added, “Satellite operators are looking to Internet-enabled set-top boxes to deliver advanced services over-the-top (OTT) in regions with strong broadband penetration. In addition, operators in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are looking at hybrid satellite – Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) platforms to offer national and international feeds integrated with local programming in a bandwidth-efficient way.” ABI Research’s “Set-Top Box Market Data” presents an overview of global STB shipments across seven video platforms: digital cable, digital satellite (pay services and free-to-air), IPTV, and digital terrestrial TV (pay services and free-to-air). It also contains detailed data on TV household by platform, annual shipment forecasts for each technology and box type, and also segmented by encoding standard. It includes forecasts for hybrid set-top box shipments as well as cable gateway shipments. It is part of the TV and Video Research Service. For further details concerning this report, access this direct link.
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Haivision Network Video has announced that the company has been recognized as one of the Technology Fast 500™ (North America) companies. Sponsored by Deloitte, the Technology Fast 500 is an annual ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and clean technology companies in North America. Award winners were selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2006 to 2010. Haivision ranked at number 342 with an impressive 235 percent growth. Haivision’s mission is to lead the market with respect to enterprise media solutions. By delivering end-to-end secure technology, Haivision enables rapid adoption of IP-based media systems allowing organizations more effective internal communications and significantly richer customer experiences. “Haivision, a private company, has become one of the largest IP video software companies in the world and has been profitable the past 16 consecutive quarters,” said Mirko Wicha, president and CEO of Haivision Network Video. “In addition, we have acquired and successfully integrated four technology companies in just over two years without any external investment. Through product line integration, scalable internal systems, and a global channel focus, all of the acquired product lines have flourished. Our most recent acquisition, KulaByte, puts Haivision center stage within the highest growth segment, ‘over-the-top’ media delivery.”
Haivision has achieved its continued growth by having a strategic focus on the medical, enterprise, and education markets, with a special emphasis on the federal and military sectors. Within these sectors Haivision is renowned for delivering the highest performance solutions available for managing secure high-definition IP video. Haivision’s core product technologies span video capture (encoders and recorders), media distribution management, and media playout (players for computers and mobile devices, set-top boxes, digital signage players, and performance decoders).
“Being included within Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 is a globally recognized achievement,” said Peter Maag, executive vice president at Haivision. “Interestingly, this year the Technology Fast 500 includes many companies that are also Haivision partners and customers.”
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The market for HbbTV continues to grow as an increasing number of broadcasters and countries adopt HbbTV as their preferred solution for Interactive TV. HbbTV is allowing broadcasters to rapidly increase the content available to consumers, while offering alternative ways to consume that content. At present, content providers need to collaborate with TV and set-top box makers in order to integrate their offerings with each manufacturer’s IPTV UI. In Europe, Germany already has substantial HbbTV services. In France, Spain and Portugal broadcasters are trialling HbbTV and other countries’ broadcasters expected to announce services soon. In the U.K., the Digital TV Group (DTG) has recently signed off on HbbTV, formally adding it into its ‘D-Book’ Digital Television standard. As a member of the DTG, Ocean Blue has had access to the ‘draft’ specification since its release in March of this year. Freesat have also announced that HbbTV will form part of its Generation 2 specification, due early 2012. Ocean Blue is a member of the HbbTV consortium and is actively involved in the progress and development of the specification. Ocean Blue software maintains its HbbTV browser agnostic approach to the market however we cooperate closely with the key browser manufacturers such as Access and Opera in order to ensure full compatibility with these main line browsers. This close relationship also means Ocean Blue can provide complete HbbTV turnkey solutions for DVB-C, DVB-S2 and DVB-T/T2. Of course our Sunrise DVB stack and our Voyager DSM-CC / AIT handler can be provided as modules to work alongside a third party HbbTV browser. In order to allow customers to take full advantage of the latest connected TV Technologies, (including multi-core CPU’s and multiple presentation engines etc) the Ocean Blue Sunrise DVB core has been upgraded to work in a multi process environment. This enhancement means that Sunrise DVB is capable of working as either the core of the system or as a plug in module to a more complex bus driven architecture. To compliment this upgrade, the Sunrise DVB core now allows developers to replace the native UI with a UI developed in other graphics environments, such as QT, CSS3 or Adobe Flash allowing for the provision of a much richer user experience.
- Rohde & Schwarz now offers an even more efficient network management solution for network operators: The R&S TS4570-K14 option for its flexible R&S TS4570 software reduces the time and cost required for the system configuration of individual transmitter sites. The R&S TS4570-K13 option helps operators minimize the time spent checking and optimizing the network’s quality of service. The R&S TS4570-K14 option eliminates the need to configure every transmitter site separately because it has configuration templates that can be generated specifically for each type of transmitter site. Using these templates, data is entered only once and then transferred to all sites – a major advantage because the number of transmitter sites is constantly increasing. The new option also features a geographical map on which it displays the current network status in a clear-cut manner. The R&S TS4570-K13 option also includes a valuable web-based reporting tool. Network operators can use this tool to provide their broadcaster customers with a solution for measuring and checking the network’s quality of service. Service level agreements (i.e. measurable descriptions of the services to be rendered) can be reliably verified with this tool. All performance data is clearly displayed on a PC and archived for an extended period of time. Users can configure the display parameters according to their requirements.
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Thomson Video Networks and Netgem have announced a partnership to offer broadcasters and telcos a best-of-breed platform for IPTV and OTT services. The two companies have completed a test and validation program for the interoperability of the Thomson ViBE VS7000 convergent video system and the Netgem N5000 and N8000 range of IPTV set-top boxes. The Thomson ViBE VS7000 convergent video system offers outstanding video quality at a range of bit rates using adaptive bit rate encoding technology to stream to all viewing devices, smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Netgem’s OTT STBs offer an uncompromised quality of experience on large TV displays. Streaming high-quality OTT content to large displays is becoming more important for operators as OTT technology matures. While part of the market demand will always be for viewing anywhere on smartphones and tablets, it is important for service operators to offer the complementary experience of large-screen viewing for premium long-form content. The ViBE VS7000 video system encompasses Thomson’s nexgen compression platform for outstanding picture quality in an all-IP environment, with live, broadcast-quality encoding and faster-than-real-time file transcoding. The ViBE VS7000 provides a flexible way to customize workflow to meet the needs of every application. A simple but powerful Workflow Builder enables the creation of live, file-based, and mixed workflows for any kind of network through a clear graphical interface. Supporting all major formats and codecs, the ViBE VS7000 is a fully featured solution for convergent applications. The N5000 Netbox is an Internet/TV adapter designed to offer service operators the best value for their money. As a basic or hybrid IPTV client, it is cost-effective and easy to integrate. As an OTT STB, it enables operators to reach outside their traditional footprint using progressive download and adaptive streaming technologies. As a secondary box, it opens access to remote PVR content and is preloaded with a range of popular web applications beyond the standard set of services. The N8000 series enriches the broadcast TV experience with the power of the Internet, seamlessly blending content and services from broadcast channels, IPTV platforms, websites, and home network devices in a fast and fluid interface.
SatBroadcasting™ — This report includes new information from ABI Research, Haivision, Ocean Blue Software, Rohde & Schwarz, Thomson Video Networks + Netgem
[SatNews] For those involved in the SatBroadcasting™ environment, here is important market segment news that could well be of interest to you…
