Thomson Shows Off Gear

INDIANAPOLIS -- Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE:TMS), partner to the media and entertainment industries, recently showcased its extensive array of IPTV solutions at TelcoTV 2005. Underscoring its Two-Year Plan ambitions of leading in IP devices and solutions, Thomson demonstrated advanced compression capabilities, remote management services, and an end-to-end IP delivery solution from encoder to set-top box with video compression and networking technology from Grass Valley.

"As a leader in IPTV, Thomson has been at the forefront of developing products that provide operators with strong, flexible and cost-effective end-to-end delivery solution,"said Karsten Verhagen, Vice President, IP Video Solutions, Thomson Access Platforms and Gateways. "Our range of set-top boxes represents over four years of technical expertise and development experience and offers operators technological advancement and service functionality so they can implement their IPTV strategy going forward."

Thomson featured the RCA IP1100 family of set-top decoders including the new RCA IP1150. This high-definition capable platform combines PVR capability with extensive advanced compression codec support including H.264/AVC, Windows Media 9, VC-1, and MPEG-2, to deliver hundreds of television channels, digital audio, web browsing, gaming and e-mail directly into the home over existing DSL lines. The IP1100 family offers operators the ability to upgrade software and applications from the network as well as remote diagnostic capability. Based on a flexible and powerful architecture, it includes the Intel® 854 chipset and dedicated Intel® Celeron® M and Pentium® M class processors.

Thomson also demonstrated the IP1100 running the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform.

Also featured in the workflow was the Grass Valley ViBE encoder, a true technological breakthrough combining unprecedented compactness and flexibility with high-end compression performance (SD or HD) and picture quality.

Thomson