SES AMERICOM announced commercial availability of its IP-PRIME HD-4, the MPEG-4 HDTV service for North American IPTV operators already delivering services using MPEG-2 technology. The company claims a single-rack HD-4 solution delivering 32 HD channels can be operational within 60 days, and can easily be scaled to add more HD programming.
Significantly, the IP-PRIME HD-4 solution allows operators to deliver HDTV to their customers without upgrading their entire infrastructure.
HD-4 solves this challenge by adding an MPEG-4 service “layer” on top of an existing MPEG-2 deployment, where the bandwidth to the home presently does not permit the delivery of HD signals in the less efficient MPEG-2 format. Deploying HD-4 also eliminates the need to interrupt service. As subscribers sign up for the new HDTV service, the operator provides a new set-top box that decodes both MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 signals, making HD-4 the simplest way for existing video service providers to add HDTV to their feature lineup.
IP-PRIME is working with set-top box provider Entone and others to facilitate the delivery of the HD-4 service.
http://www.ip-prime.tvhttp://www.ses-americom.com
