Skip to main content

Digital TV Set-Top Box Decline in Price & Size

Broadcasting & Cable reports that the days of the large, $300-plus standard definition digital set-top box appear to be long gone. Set-top vendors Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta both showed small digital set-top boxes at the NCTA show in Atlanta that will sell to cable operators for less than $100.

The digital-only boxes are targeted at operators deploying �digital simulcast� technology that will convert the existing analog tier to all-digital operations. They are also designed to work in conjunction with high-end �multi-room DVR� set-tops that will record and store programming in the living room and then deliver it over a coax-based home network to multiple televisions in the home.

Motorola�s new Digital Cable Client (DCC) 100 set-top is slightly bigger than a paperback book and was shown at NCTA as part of a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) network that linked it to a hi-def DVR equipped set-top, as well as a mobile phone, to allow content sharing between devices.

Motorola spokesman Paul Alfieri says that the company plans to deliver another sub-$100 product, a �MoCA Module,� that would have a coax connection on one side and an Ethernet connection on the other to allow PCs to be easily connected to digital cable set-tops as part of a home network.

Popular posts from this blog

Why 2025 Will Redefine Mobile Connectivity

As international travel rebounds to pre-pandemic levels in 2025, the mobile communication roaming market is at an inflection point. Emerging technologies and changing customer preferences are challenging traditional wholesale roaming agreements between mobile network operators (MNOs). The global wholesale roaming market is projected to more than double, from $9 billion in 2024 to $20 billion by 2028. This surge will be fueled by the expanding deployment of 5G Standalone (SA) technology, which enables real-time roaming connections and activity monitoring. But beneath this headline figure lies a complex landscape of regional variations and technological mobile service disruptions. Global Mobile Roaming Market Development Western Europe dominates inbound roaming connections, largely thanks to its Roam Like at Home (RLAH) initiative, which eliminates roaming charges among member countries.  Meanwhile, the Indian Subcontinent is emerging as a growth hotspot. Between 2024 and 2029, inbou...