Content area
Full text
Boxes debuting at the Western Show enable new services, including VOD, HDTV and PVR
Manufacturers at this week's Western Show in Anaheim, Calif., will be pushing digital set-top boxes that do more than just receive digital channels. The next-generation boxes also enable new services: video-on-demand (VOD), high definition television (HDTV) and personal video recording (PVR).
The vendors market their products in three basic categories: thin-client models for operators seeking an economical solution to interactive services; thick-client boxes for those that want to offer more features; and multifunction boxes, which could include audio/video receivers, cable modems and CD/DVD players. These last boxes would be sold to consumers in stores.
Motorola's Broadband division has expanded its DCT2000 platform with the introduction of the DCT2500 and DCT2600 thin-client models, which deliver interactive services and PVR capabilities.
According to Bernadette Vernon, director of strategic marketing for Motorola's DigiCable division, the DCT2500 offers all of the DCT2000's features but adds more processing power, improved graphics, scaled video, and data extraction for text and other information services. The DCT2600 includes a hard disk for PVR.
Motorola will also show its advanced
DCT5000 platform (which now includes the DCT5100, DCT5200 and DCT52X0), introduced at the NCTA show in May. It has more processing power, an internal cable modem, HDTV and PVR functionality, Vernon said,...