AViA@TV, Pioneer has a MediaOne win with Voyager II..............
tvbroadcast.com
C-Cube Brings AViA@TV To Set-Tops
By Lauren Rooney
(April 12, 1999)--C-Cube Microsystems, Inc., maker of digital video solutions for interactive set-top boxes, has developed AViA@tv, a new chip that enables cable and satellite subscribers to access the Internet through their digital set-tops. "These boxes have an opportunity to do so much more than enable people to watch TV," said Chris Adams, vice president of marketing at Milpitas, CA-based C-Cube.
According to the company, AViA@tv is the first set-top silicon platform to bring digital TV and the Internet to the consumer priced digital set-top. "We've created a PC-type graphics environment that's attached to your TV, and we've done this without raising the cost of set top boxes," said Adams. "We think we're going to raise the bar on the type of interactions you can have with television quite dramatically."
Going on-line from your TV is not a new notion; there is Web-TV. "But with Web-TV you have to know where you want to go and how to get there, and that eliminates a large number of people who are afraid of or unfamiliar with computers," said Adams.
AViA set-tops will make it easy for non-PC users to surf the net. "My mom is a test case for a lot of our new technology," chuckled Adams. "My experience with her is that she could and would use this type of service without knowing anything about the Web."
During a commercial or program, a message appears on the screen advising viewers that for more information they can press a button on their remote control and instantly the set-top brings up that website while at the same time continuing to bring the program. A satellite or cable provider could, for instance, broadcast a sporting event and during the game offer websites with stats, extra advertising, or purchasing options. The AViA@tv application will also provide other interactive services, such as Web browsing, email, chat, and home shopping.
Picture Perfect
Television has traditionally lagged behind PCs when it came to graphic capabilities. AViA@tv bridges that gap with 24-bite true color support that enables 16 million distinct colors (equal to high-end PC graphics). "With this product we're increasing the performance of the graphics system and processor in the set-top dramatically to a level you'd expect from your PC," said Adams.
The new chip also eliminates "flickering" that occurs when a website is put up on a TV screen displaying interlaced images. That's because interlaced television screens refresh at a slower rate than computer monitors. Adams explained that because the human eye detects the lower rate of refresh, the screen appears to flicker.
"A website on TV will flash like a strobe," he said. AViA@tv's flicker-filter hardware circuitry spreads a little of the previous line into the other so fields cross over, eliminating the flicker.
Pioneer Electronics, in Long Beach, CA, is putting the AViA@tv chip into their Voyager line of digital set-tops. Pioneer's director of social development Ray Tozaki said the Voyager II set-top will marry the best of television and computers.
"The chip will allow better graphics that will rival PC graphics," he said. "Plus you'll be able to get the Internet over cable TV fiber and coax lines which will increase speed dramatically--T-1 rates as opposed to a 56 modem rate."
MediaOne in Denver, CO, will be the first cable company will test the Voyager II set-tops this summer in Atlanta, GA. Pioneer hopes to have Voyager II set-tops available to consumers in a couple of years. However, AViA@tv is not compatible with HDTV. It will be a few more years before such a chip is developed.
Why Now?
For the past half-dozen years displays at the NAB have touted interactive TV. So, why has it taken so long for this dream to become a reality? "On the Web there's HTML, a common language," explained Adams. "In set-top boxes every manufacturer came up with a different environment, so you really never built a critical mass of developers who could produce set-top boxes. Set-tops being built didn't have the capability to interpret and display HTML-type content. Our chip can take HTML pages and make them simple interactive applications."
C-Cube sees the AViA application as good for the cable and satellite industry in a couple of ways. One, they'll be able to offer advertisers a new tool in reaching customers, thus be able to charge more for commercials.
But, more importantly, success of cable and satellite companies is measured in the number of customers, and Adams feels that a company that can offer a set-top that brings truly interactive TV into a consumer's home will have the advantage.
For more information, call C-Cube at (408) 490-8000.
|
