Blonder Tongue Laboratories has a new media modulator designed to streamlines the delivery and management of custom HD video content for a range of applications and markets, including cable television, educational, hospitality, and government.
The MPHDE-50 combines a custom Android-based network media player and single-channel HD MPEG-2 encoder in a 1-RU space.
“Bringing a high-quality HD MPEG-2 encoder and network media player together under one enclosure offers significant operational efficiencies and cost savings to system operators who are delivering and managing custom HD video content,” said Emily Nikoo, executive vice president of Blonder Tongue.
She said the product would be useful to MSOs looking to promote HD services, including VOD content, or to universities or hotels wanting to communicate daily activities.
Operators can accept a program from one of the following inputs: component, HD-SDI, HDMI (unencrypted), VGA, and composite, and simultaneously deliver a single QAM, ASI, or IP output. The entire process is managed and streamlined via the media player.
The MPHDE-50 includes an HDMI connection between the media player and encoder. Both units are powered by a single 12 VDC power supply integrated in the chassis for a superior performance. 120 VAC line powering is standard, with -48 VDC power optional.
The media player produces a 1080i output that Blonder Tongue promised would be “flawless.”
There are two USB ports on the front panel and a 10/100Base-T Ethernet port on the rear panel for remote management. An API is included for native applications, and the media player features a 4GB Flash internal memory and SD card port for additional storage.
The encoder — Blonder Tongue’s HDE-CSV-QAM — provides GUI-based monitoring and control via standard Web browsers, further simplifying operations. Real-time Dolby Digital audio encoding is supported to ensure a superior audio experience for end users. Additional benefits include closed captioning and user-defined PSIP configuration.
Separately, the company appointed Walt Davis as senior director of product management and technical services. Davis will be responsible for managing product implementation and technical support of the company’s next-generation digital video solutions.
Davis joins Blonder Tongue after five years with Vubiquity managing its linear portfolio of video services targeting North American and Caribbean operators. Before Vubiquity, he worked at SES as the director of product management and marketing for IP-Prime, a linear aggregation service delivered to operators via satellite. Prior to SES, Davis was the product manager for Cavalier Telephone’s MPEG-4 IPTV service in Richmond, Virginia.