Communications

Hybrid SoCs bring HEVC technology to terrestrial markets

10th September 2014
Siobhan O'Gorman
0

A family of hybrid satellite and terrestrial SoC broadcast devices for set-top boxes, claimed to be the world's first, have been released by Broadcom. Engineered with pin-to-pin compatibility, the family allows a single set-top design to be leveraged throughout. The family of SoCs brings the company's HEVC technology to terrestrial markets, enabling broadcasters to utilise spectrum more efficiently than with MPEG-4 video compression standards.

As a result, broadcasters gain options to deliver more competitive channel line-ups and improved content quality through the same or a lower spectrum footprint. By combining HEVC with modulation efficiencies of DVB-S2, DVB-T2, ISDB-T and ATSC, along with high-performance IP connectivity with MoCA 2.0, the famiy also provides set-top manufacturers with a value proposition for broadcasters. At IBC, taking place from the 12th-16th September 2014, at RAI in Amsterdam, Broadcom will demonstrate the chips. 

"The combination of satellite and terrestrial front-ends that this family offers now provides significant benefits to viewers who want the best channel and content selection available," said Rich Nelson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Broadband & Connectivity Group, Broadcom. "We believe HEVC will continue to be a key driver for the delivery of high-quality content. Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to our customers to proliferate HEVC broadly across our set-top box product family."

"Broadcasters and regulators throughout Europe and in emerging regions, including Africa, are waiting for the arrival of DVB-T2 with HEVC to launch or extend HD terrestrial services. In addition, we expect the ability to deliver hybrid IP-services using HEVC will benefit broadcasters launching premium add-on services, including some delivered over bandwidth-constrained cellular networks," said Sam Rosen, ABI Research Practice Director. "In addition to allowing the next generation of services, Broadcom's integration of HEVC in terrestrial, satellite and cable chipsets provides broadcasters with a future-proof to ensure the set-top boxes they deploy today will provide value through 2020 and beyond."

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