News

Pace Micro brings enhanced TV to every room in the house (31/10/2005)

Pace's multiroom solution is built around a main client server, to which a number of 'thin clients' are attached. The main server comes with personal video recorder (PVR) and high definition (HD) capabilities which can then be accessed by the thin clients, which are, in themselves, smaller, simpler set-top boxes.

The Pace home server comes with a quad-tuner, HD AVC (H.264) codecs, PVR functionality and network capabilities. It can record up to eight programmes simultaneously, and a further four pre-recorded programmes can be viewed at any time without interrupting the flow of information.

With the PVR facilities, each user can pause a live programme, come back to view from the paused point and continue watching, with follow me facilities.

All the devices in the Pace Multiroom solution are linked by an IP based network. This has been developed and tested for operation on a wide range of existing networks, including Cat 5 cable, Coax and Powerline.

Pace Multiroom comes with a choice of Middleware and Conditional Access options, as well as two security options - SVP to provide content protection across the home network with a single smart card at the server, or individual smart cards at each client set-top-box.

In both cases full network security is provided for content up to the point of decode.

Paul Entwistle, Chief Technologist at Pace Micro commented: "As PVRs become more commonplace in people`s homes, it is only natural that users will want to be able to access this great technology in all the rooms where they have a TV. One solution is to buy a separate PVR set-top box for each room, but this is an expensive and inflexible solution as your favourite TV is trapped in the room it was recorded.

"Pace Multiroom takes leading edge technologies, such as PVRs and high definition, and makes them accessible to every room in the house, setting the foundation to the completely digital home."

www.pacemicro.com