TV Set Top Box Processing Capabilities – Critical to Services and Features

STB design can have a dramatic effect on the ability of a TV broadcaster to offer and maintain features and services to their customers. Michael Weissman from Sigma Designs explained to me at the IBC trade show that TV broadcasters are facing new market challenges and choosing a STB with the wrong processing capability can limit the broadcaster’s ability to compete. Valuable capabilities are advanced services such as VOD, DVR, and multiple channel viewing/recording. Other key features for STBs include fast channel changing (can be a challenge for IPTV), media sharing (such as DLNA), and work with a mixture of home media network types (coax, powerline, phoneline). STBs should be able to support for multiple operating system types such as Linux, Android, and Microsoft® Mediaroom™.