Thomson is one of the key technology vendors to satellite pay-TV operators world-wide, and its technology will be key in helping satellite pay-TV operators stay ahead of cable and IPTV competition. The IBC e-Daily spoke to Georges Laplanche, senior vice president, Thomson Premises Systems, about the technologies Thomson is showcasing at IBC and the types of solutions available to pay-TV operators and broadcasters.
IBC e-Daily: What has been the focus of your research and development efforts in the last year, and what are the main trends?
Laplanche: We are coming with the third generation of MPEG-4 set-top boxes. Over the last few years, we have mainly been focusing on delivering HD (high-definition) and MPEG-4 in general. We have set-top boxes from basic zapper boxes to HD PVR (personal video recorder) boxes that now really integrate and work with the third generation of integrated chipsets. As far as the CPE side of things is concerned, the main focus is on home networking. It is the trend everywhere. There is the convergence of broadcast and broadband and the transition from conditional access to DRM. Those are the big trends.
IBC e-Daily: Has the takeup of HD been in line with expectations?
Laplanche: The HD takeup is very much correlated to the availability of HD content. Sports, with the recent Olympics, has been a boost to HD takeup across the world. The United States has been ahead of the rest with operators such as DirecTV making hundreds of channels available. The United Kingdom has been very strong also with BSkyB. We are beginning to see more and more HD everywhere, in particular, HD PVRs. In the satellite world, we only supply HD PVRs now. In terms of Europe, the take-up of HD has differed in certain markets. Markets in Northern Europe have traditionally seen a faster take-up of HD. The take-up has started to be in line with expectations. In 2008, we are seeing more offerings in HD, but there is still a major gap between the United States and Europe. Without the United States we would not have so many products available. I would say the United States is, to a certain extent, camouflaging the slow takeup of HD elsewhere. Without such a big market as the United States, it would have been difficult to move so fast in terms of product development because the payback would not have been great. But now with extremely affordable HD products, it is really within the reach of European broadcasters as long as they push HD content such as movies, sports and entertainment.
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