Leading the way in high-quality TV – worldwide
High definition (HD) has brought consumers a sharp improvement in picture and sound quality, quickly becoming the norm for the TV industry. Codecs such as MPEG-4 and H.264 let broadcasters deliver pictures with up to five times as many pixels as standard definition (SD).
Pace has been a pioneer of HD digital TV technology, developing set-top boxes and personal video recorders (PVRs) to allow payTV operators around the world to be ‘first to market’ with groundbreaking HD services.
In 2004, we demonstrated Europe’s first HD Personal Video Recorder (PVR), allowing users to record, pause and rewind live HD TV. A year later, we introduced the DS810, the world’s first H.264 DVB-S2 HD set-top box, used by German payTV operator Premiere to launch Europe’s first MPEG-4 HD service. It was followed by the DS810XE, launched in 2006, a free-to-air pan-European satellite HD set-top box. The following years saw Pace set-top boxes selected by operators in Turkey, Africa, Scandinavia, Australia, Brazil, Greece and Malaysia for the launches of their HD services.
In 2008 we demonstrated the first set-top box capable of receiving and displaying DVB-T2 HD content. DVB-T has been a key enabler in the rollout of HD over Freeview in the UK, helping to bring high-definition content to terrestrial services as well as cable and satellite domains. The 2010 World Cup fuelled further interest in DVB-T, with our DVB-T2 PVR eliciting strong interest from both operators and consumers.
With HD firmly established in many markets, the next step is to an even more real-looking, immersive televised image. By 2016–17, we will be watching ultra-high definition TV, which offers sixteen times the definition of standard HD.