Evolution Launches MPEG-4 HD Solution For Small Ops

Will Give Smaller Systems Ability To Provide 400 HD Channels

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 6/23/2008 1:04:00 PM

Evolution Digital launched its MPEG-4 digital headend solution for small cable operators, which the company claims can give systems with as little as 550 Megahertz of spectrum the ability to offer 400 high-definition channels.

Evolution’s MPEG-4 digital solution includes headend equipment; set-tops; conditional access technology from Conax, a subsidiary of Norwegian telecom provider Telenor; and installation, integration and ongoing technical support. 

“It is our mandate to provide small-to-medium-size cable operators with the same innovative digital products and services previously only available to large urban systems for a fraction of the cost,” Evolution Digital president Brent Smith said, in a statement.

Other turnkey digital headend solutions designed for smaller operators include those from Transparent Video Systems and Beyond Broadband Technologies.

Evolution plans to demo the MPEG-4 headend with content provided by Avail Media at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ Cable-Tec Expo conference this week.

Evolution, based in Centennial, Colo., also plans to showcase its low-cost digital-to-analog converter (DTA) at Cable-Tec Expo.

Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association filed its opposition to Evolution’s request for a three-year waiver to the FCC’s separable security mandate. Comcast and other cable operators are planning to use such DTAs to convert to all-digital operation.

Also Monday, Evolution announced a partnership with Remote Security Systems LLC, a developer of the DOCSIS-based Lockbox Management System to detect cable theft.