Offers Cable Operators Secure Delivery of High-Definition Content Supports Evolving Display Devices and Resolution Requirements
Cable 2002, New Orleans, May 6, 2002: Pace Micro Technology today unveiled its latest innovation - the Pace 550 HD - at Cable 2002. This advanced home gateway joins the Pace 500 in a series of industry leading solutions for US cable networks.
With more features than other High-Definition (HD) cable set-top boxes offered in the marketplace today, the Pace 550 HD pushes the technology to the next level with advanced functionality, such as providing secured digital connections, and resolution flexibility for content and display devices, that is cost-effective for operators.
The Pace 550 HD is being previewed at Pace’s Booth (# 1161) through May 8. With consumer demand for HDTV on the rise, cable operators are faced with supporting both standard definition (SDTV) and high-definition (HDTV) digital programming from content providers, as well as the myriad of television sets in consumer homes today.
Engineers at Pace Micro Technology have developed an innovative, cost-effective solution for operators to support the needs of their subscribers and of content providers.
Industry Leading Security
The Pace 550 HD features DVI 1.0 and IEEE1394 - standards based, secure digital connections for digital television monitors and consumer peripheral devices. High Definition content providers are likely to restrict the availability of HD content until security measures like these are adopted. Cable operators have been particularly concerned about deploying a legacy of unsecured boxes like those currently available. The Pace 550 HD hardware and software architecture has been specifically designed to enable the secure delivery of both SDTV and HDTV content.
Resolution and Aspect Ratio Flexibility for variations in content and display devices
The Pace 550 HD is designed with flexibility in mind. This groundbreaking home gateway technology works for both Standard Definition and High Definition television sets (480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i output resolutions), and supports High Definition video and graphics scaling for on-screen guides. Other set-top boxes in this class can cause a subscriber’s television to display some content with both letterbox and pillarbox bars (black bars around picture). The Pace 550 HD actually enhances the viewer experience by scaling content to fit both 4:3 and 16:9 displays; thus, minimizing the use of letterbox and pillarbox bars.
“Once again, Pace is leading the industry with the most flexible, innovative, and cost-effective solutions for cable operators,” said Neil Gaydon, president of Pace Micro Technology Americas.
“Operators want the flexibility to support both standard definition as well as high definition consumer products and programming that are entering the marketplace today - and they want a sensible solution that meets their requirements for cost and performance. The Pace 550 HD is the best product to support HDTV in the U.S. to date,” he added.
Other key features of the Pace 550 HD include:
- IEEE 1394 for peripheral devices
- Component Video Out (YPbPr)
- DVI 1.0
- 5.1 Dolby Digital SPDIF RCA Output and SPDIF Optical Output
- USB Host Support
- High-speed DAVIC cable modem
- Macrovision 7.01