Social TV Has Arrived: Technicolor, Entropic Communications Power Comcast's Xfinity HD Video Calling Experience
HD Video Conferencing Solution Enables Video Chatting While Viewing TV
BOSTON, MA(21 May 2012)
Last week, Comcast rolled out its consumer widescreen
High-Definition (HD) video calling experience made possible through
advanced technology provided by Technicolor (Paris:TCH) , a worldwide
technology leader in the media and entertainment sector and Entropic
Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENTR), a world leader in semiconductor
solutions for the connected home. Technicolor provided the
custom-developed adapter, powered by Entropic's integrated broadcast
system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, to give Xfinity customers an
interactive video calling experience -- making video or audio calls
with friends and family while watching the same TV program
simultaneously -- over their existing set-top box, TV or wireless LAN
network.
"There is a large and growing market for interactive applications over
broadcast TV," said Jason Blackwell, director, Service Provider
Strategies, Digital Consumer Practice at Strategy Analytics.
"Technicolor and Entropic's video chat over live TV solution represents
one of the first in a new wave of Social TV applications that will
drive operator services and increases in ARPU (Average Revenue per
User) with triple-play services."
Comcast's experience delivers an unparalleled two-way video
communications dialogue over a live broadcast stream. The Technicolor
720p HD telepresence adapter leverages the media processing power and
performance from Entropic's ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-A9 CPU (PNX8471) of SoC
solutions. This solution showcases Entropic's innovation to integrate a
new value-added service, a HD video call, on its platform by augmenting
a web-enabled technology with traditional broadcast. Specifically,
Entropic's client-based SoC technologies act as a HDMI pass-through
that connects to a live event (the HD video conference) from a remote
connection (the cloud); affording Comcast the ability to have video as
an overlay on top of its TV content, or as a picture-in-picture.
"We selected the Technicolor and Entropic solution because their joint
vision and ability to execute proved valuable in allowing us to
integrate new digital services, like video conferencing, into our
traditional service packages," said Steve Reynolds, senior vice
president of Premise Technology for Comcast. "The device developed by
Technicolor uses the advanced capabilities of Entropic's ARM-based SoC
to enable us to quickly develop and deploy new video-centric
applications."
"Comcast is at the forefront of mass adoption of video services," said
Barbara Bessolo, senior vice president of Technicolor's Set-top Box
Division. "We have been working with our long-term partner, Entropic,
to deliver a powerful telepresence experience that uses advancements in
HDMI pass-through technology to overlay the remote video with a local
preview while watching Comcast's TV service."
"Social TV has arrived, and we are proud to have worked with
Technicolor and our ecosystem partners to drive a movement to where
video chat over live TV exists," said Mark Samuel, senior vice
president, Set-top Box Group, Entropic Communications. "We combined the
best of broadcast with broadband technologies to enable Comcast to
securely deliver high-quality HD video calls with superior picture
quality."
Key Technical Features:
-- The Technicolor adapter includes an HDMI input and output, Gigabit
Ethernet, WiFi, RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics)
control, external USB and SD card slot, and an integrated external
camera and microphone.
-- Entropic's PNX84xx integrated broadcast SoC family includes all the
major building blocks needed to develop next generation set-top box and
client applications for global cable, satellite and IPTV networks. Key
highlights include: superior video and audio quality, best web browsing
through the ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, an advanced 3D GPU, flexible content
decoding, advanced 3DTV processing, efficient power management, and
support for Linux and Google Android(R) Operating Systems.
Availability
Comcast began its national rollout of its Xfinity HD video conferencing
service on May 15th. For more information regarding availability,
please visit www.comcast.com/skype. The technology will be demonstrated
at The Cable Show 2012 in Boston, May 21-23, 2012.
About Technicolor
Technicolor, a worldwide technology leader in the media and
entertainment sector, is at the forefront of digital innovation. Our
world class research and innovation laboratories enable us to lead the
market in delivering advanced video services to content creators and
distributors. We also benefit from an extensive intellectual property
portfolio focused on imaging and sound technologies, based on a
thriving licensing business.Our commitment: Enhance media experience on
any screen, in theaters, at home and on the go. Euronext Paris: TCH *
www.technicolor.com.
About Entropic Communications
Entropic Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENTR) is a leading global
provider of silicon and software solutions to enable connected home
entertainment. The Company transforms how traditional HDTV broadcast
and streaming video content is seamlessly, reliably, and securely
delivered, processed, and distributed into and throughout the home.
Entropic's next-generation home connectivity and set-top box
system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions enable Pay-TV service providers to
offer consumers a more captivating whole-home entertainment experience
by delivering new, high-performing ways to connect, engage, and enjoy
multimedia content. For more information, visit Entropic at:
www.entropic.com.