Motorola’s MPEG-4 distribution system to assist HBO in meeting region’s increased interest in high-definition
Motorola NYSE: MOT today announced it will add multiple high-definition (HD) MPEG-4 AVC encoding channels at the HBO Latin America Group (LAG) digital transmission facility located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The new channels will integrate with HBO-LAG’s existing Motorola MPEG-2 modular system to facilitate the rapid deployment of HBO’s new HD services.
“There has been a marked acceleration in demand for high definition programming in the Latin America region — with an increase of over 1.4 million HDTV sets in June and July alone,” said Pierre Jaspar, senior vice president, technology/operations, HBO. “Motorola’s integration of high efficiency MPEG-4 encoding with our existing MPEG-2 transmission and access control system means that we can add new services while continuing to provide a full lineup of programming to our customer base.”
The new HD programming will be processed with Motorola’s SE-5100 High Definition MPEG-4 AVC encoder. Designed for markets requiring high quality MPEG-4 compression to deliver real-time content, the SE-5100 receives video content and converts it to the MPEG-4 format for distribution via satellite to HBO-LA’s affiliates. At the downlink sites, the content will be received and processed with Motorola’s new multi-format integrated receiver/decoder (IRD), which can be configured to deliver HD channels in both MPEG-4/AVC and MPEG-2 formats.
“One of Motorola’s key design goals is to make sure that our newest technology can be easily and efficiently integrated with our customer’s existing systems so that they can continue to meet the demanding and competitive requirements of the entertainment industry,” said Doug Means, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Home and Networks Mobility. “As migration to high definition programming begins to ramp on a worldwide scale, Motorola remains committed to providing an entire suite of cutting edge products that utilize the most advanced technology for the benefit of our customers.”
The SE-5100 MPEG-4 AVC encoder design includes the use of high-speed general-purpose processors which allows the H.264 implementation to remain flexible as MPEG4 optimization continues to mature over the next several years. Unlike MPEG2, MPEG4 has hundreds of tools to choose from to be applied within a fixed compute power environment. Carefully selecting the tools to use — as well as optimizing implementation of the tools over time — will enable the SE-5100 to provide superior video quality over a long period of time.
As a long-time leader in HD digital compression systems and a member of the Grand Alliance HD encoding effort, Motorola has deployed hundreds of HD encoding systems in the MPEG-2 standard. The MPEG-4 AVC technology has been optimized for today’s content requirements, handling both 1920 x 1080i and 1280 x 720p resolutions at approximately half the bandwidth required with similar MPEG-2 coded signals.
About HBO-LA
HBO Latin America Group(SM) is a group of companies affiliated to Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., The Walt Disney Company and Ole Communications Group. The companies comprising HBO Latin America Group(SM) own, operate and manage leading cable and satellite programming services in Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean, including the signals HBO, HBO Plus, HBO Family, Cinemax, Max Prime(SM), Warner Channel(SM), Sony Entertainment Television, A&E, The History Channel, E! Entertainment Television, AXN, Animax and Biography.
About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications. The company develops technologies, products and services that make mobile experiences possible. Our portfolio includes communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility solutions, digital set-tops, cable modems, mobile devices and Bluetooth accessories. Motorola is committed to delivering next generation communication solutions to people, businesses and governments. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $36.6 billion in 2007. For more information about our company, our people and our innovations, please visit http://www.motorola.com
