What do you think of when you hear the words, “hit TV series?” When it comes to linear TV, the meaning of that phrase is pretty concretely anchored in actual audience metrics. A “hit” series is one that the networks are reasonably sure many viewers are tuned into. Indeed, networks have a fairly strong handle […]
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Nagra TVKey Looks To Eliminate Set-top Boxes Around The World
Swiss-based encryption-systems developer Nagra used last month’s CES 2017 to showcase a new conditional access (CA) platform that can eliminate the set-top box (STB) from the pay cable and satellite TV business paradigm, while bringing television manufacturers a potentially lucrative ancillary revenue stream. The company demonstrated at the show its TVKey platform, which is being […]
India’s Set-top Box Market: Poised for a Shakeup?
India is well known as a huge market for set-top boxes (STB). In addition to a thriving direct-to-home satellite business, the country is nearing the end of the digitization of its cable TV system—an effort which saw a massive upgrade of cable boxes across the country. DTC estimates that over 195 million set-top boxes shipped […]
HEVC Products Forecast Overview
With efficiency improvements over the ubiquitous AVC/H.264 standard and higher-quality play back, HEVC/H.265 use has expanded into nearly every consumer product and video content category. Although higher-end applications, such as the viewing of UHD TV, are the most advertised uses for the HEVC standard, its use in non-UHD applications is prolific. DTC’s latest study narrates […]
Is There A Universal Cable Converter Solution?
If you think the presidential primaries, Cam Newton v. the media, and Superman v. Batman battles are brutal, just wait. Two of the most hated entities in our society—the Federal government and local cable TV providers—are about to butt proverbial heads over one of the most important devices in consumer homes: the cable box. This […]
The Ghost of CableCARD Rises Again
It seems like every few years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) notices that U.S. consumers are locked into renting set-top boxes from cable companies rather than buying them in an open market and connecting them to the network just as they do their telephones, smartphones, tablets, Wi-Fi routers, game consoles, smart TVs, Internet-connected toasters and […]
Will UHDs Evolve Into Two-Piece Systems?
Considering all their app, Web browsing and streaming smartness along with complex 4K, HDR, WCG and HEVC processing needs, UHD TVs are getting nearly as computerly complex as your home PC. But while home PCs are trending toward single all-in-one, towerless, integrated monitor configurations, TVs may be slowly—very slowly—moving in the opposite direction, to a […]
FreeTV Alliance Seeks to Keep Free DTH Momentum Strong in Europe
On September 12, 2014, three European free-to-air satellite operators—UK’s Freesat, France’s Fransat and Italy’s Tivusat—joined forces to form the FreeTV Alliance. Shortly thereafter, in October, Germany’s HD Plus jumped on board with the group. The goal behind the alliance is to harmonize the production of set top boxes, Smart TVs and other devices for satellite […]
While Apple Watches, Android TV Strikes Deals
Apple is spending an inordinate amount of time positioning itself to win the wearables market. But TV? Not so much. The most significant recent TV announcement from Apple was a price cut on the already three-year old Apple TV (from $99 to $69) and a limited run of exclusivity for HBO’s soon-to-launched standalone streaming service. […]
VP9’s Surge of SoC Support Won’t Derail HEVC
HEVC may be the presumptive king of next-generation compression technology, but the Google-backed rival VP9 has kicked off 2015 with a growing show of support. At CES, several DTV semiconductor manufacturers revealed SoCs that included both HEVC and VP9 decoding. They include MediaTek, whose MT5595 SoC is being deployed in Sony’s 2015 lineup of Android […]