Advanced Television

ADB follows tru2way

December 10, 2009

From Colin Mann in Geneva

Digital television technology specialist Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) has demonstrated live that it can deliver the promise of tru2way interactive technology for cable system operators, and consumers. At a recent CableLabs Interop event, ADB showed how its ADB-4820C high-definition set-top box could seamlessly support the full functionality of both Cisco and Motorola tru2way head-ends and CableCARDs. The ADB-4820C was first connected to a Cisco head-end using a Cisco CableCARD, and displayed Time Warner Cable's TV channels and tru2way interactive guide.

Without powering down the set-top, the CableCARD was subsequently removed from the box and replaced with a Motorola CableCARD. The box then automatically connected to the Motorola head-end, and in less than five minutes, displayed Comcast's TV channels and tru2way interactive guide.

The CableLabs demonstration was designed to illustrate how a correct implementation of tru2way devices and head-ends allows portability and interoperability between head-ends, networks, and set-top boxes, dramatically reducing the cost of integration, deployment and ownership for cable MSOs.

“The promise of tru2way has been that a single platform would lead to a transformation of the set-top box environment by allowing one device to fit multiple systems,” said Timothy P Schermerhorn, SVP and GM of Advanced Digital Broadcast's Americas Cable business unit, who said that rather than delivering technology pieces that operators were left to integrate at high cost, the solution provided a fully integrated set-top platform that was ready for immediate deployment. “This saves operators' time and money allowing them to focus on advanced TV services development rather than on set-top integration,” he added.

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