RVU Alliance gets Motorola, Pace, Thomson and others to dream the multiroom dream
by Richard Lawler 
posted Nov 4th 2009 at 2:22PM
Thomson posts
Thomson developing tru2way hardware
by Richard Lawler posted Jan 11th 2009 at 3:59PM
KBRO opens up the HD window for Taiwan cable viewers
by Darren Murph posted Dec 9th 2008 at 3:39AM
Maybe we're off base here, but it seems to us Taiwan could use a serious high-def infusion. Thankfully, KBRO -- a top cable operator in the country -- has looked to Thomson in order to deliver HD content via MPEG-4 to its loyal customers. There's no mention of exactly how many high-definition stations will be delivered, but we don't suspect that it made this kind of investment without some pretty lofty goals. Now, all we can hope is that everyone else vying for business nearby follows suit.Thomson's ViBE encoders enable 50% faster HD channel changing
by Darren Murph posted Nov 30th 2008 at 11:33AM
Look, 1.9 seconds to change the channel is way, way too long people -- we all know that. Thankfully, the bright engineers at Thomson realize it too, and that's why they've cranked out some seriously awesome advances to their ViBE encoders. The new "fast zapping solutions" enable 50% faster high-definition channel changing, and the secret is in the fancy simultaneous compression that most users won't even notice. In essence, it allows the STB to "quickly decode and display a low resolution version of the channel and transition to displaying the full HD resolution version without disrupting viewing," and if all goes well, we could see this become the de facto way of channel surfing by 2009. Gnarly, dudes.Technicolor establishes first BDA-approved Blu-ray Disc testing facility in US
by Darren Murph posted Oct 4th 2008 at 1:53AM
France 2 getting new $3.1 million HD studio in Paris
by Darren Murph posted Apr 14th 2008 at 3:18PM
Though quite a bit of broadcast news is flowing from the States right about now, Thomson is out boasting of its involvement with France 2's forthcoming HD upgrades. The "first public television broadcaster" in France has indeed chosen Thomson to construct a new high-definition facility (studio and control room) in Paris, which will set the network back a cool $3.1 million. Reportedly, the new France 2 HD project will include system design, installation, staff training and around the clock customer service. Among the new equipment is a pair of Kayak HD video production switchers and a Trinix HD router -- both of which should be well-oiled and ready to rock when the studio goes on-air by late August.Thomson launches HD AVC encoding tools for Blu-ray
by Richard Lawler posted Feb 28th 2008 at 1:14PM
Thomson's Tiger AVC encoder that it has been using in house for the last couple of years, is now available for sale to interested Blu-ray (and HD DVD) compression and authoring facilities. Including Thomson's film grain adjustment technology among other parts of a "secret sauce" Thomson says results in better looking MPEG-4 / h.264 encoded movies. Packaged as the Nexcode HD AVC Encoder, its a full hardware and software solution built to scale to business requirements. No word on who exactly will use this technology, but as long as our HDM is artifact-free, we're not too concerned how it got that way.Thomson intros 9211 HD CMOS image sensor with Full HD resolution
by Darren Murph posted Feb 19th 2008 at 11:41PM
Not that you'll see one of these in your next digicam or anything, but Thomson's latest HD CMOS image sensor could still make the world you watch a lot clearer in due time. The 9211 is currently aimed at industrial applications such as machine vision, medical imaging and high-end video surveillance, and even offers up the ability to capture pixels in progressive or interlaced formats. As expected, this device features a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution and on-chip dual 12-bit A/D converters, but who knows how long it will be before your every step in a Las Vegas casino is logged in 1080p.Thomson's new Film Grain Technology for HD DVD endorsed by SMPTE [Update 2]
by Richard Lawler posted Jul 6th 2006 at 5:40AM
Thomson announced last night that their Film Grain Technology for MPEG-4 has (finally) been approved for mandatory inclusion in HD DVD products. We say finally because they've been showing this off since 2004, and it was originally not approved by the DVD Forum for mandatory inclusion back in February 2005. No word on what has changed between then and now, or exactly when the Steering Committee met and approved it, but it's in there now (See below). Currently this technology is only included for use with the h.264 codec, although they indicate it could be added to support other compression solutions, like VC-1 for example.They remove all trace of film grain before the movie is compressed, then the player recreates the effect during playback. Beyond just adding a different visual feel, they claim this will also enhance compression and lower necessary bitrates for high definition content further. This AVS Forum thread provides much useful information on the effect of film grain and Thomson's technology.Microsoft shows off IPTV plans, partners
by Richard Lawler posted Sep 17th 2005 at 8:33PM
As the convergence race heats up, Microsoft is not sitting on the sidelines, as last week at the IBC show in Amsterdam they shed more light on their plans for IPTV devices with SBC, Intel, Motorola, Linksys and others. Among the announcements made for NTSC markets were:- Previously announced Scientific Atlanta set top boxes including SD and HD receivers and DVRs, as well as IP-over-coax and DVB support
- A Thomson/Intel box that is said to be commercially available, supporting Microsoft's IPTV Edition platform. Expandable to include DVR features, it also supports Windows Media 9, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 encoded sources.
- A system-on-a-chip developed with Sigma Designs specifically intended to support all IPTV edition features and lower cost so that it can be included in set top boxes, TV's, DVD players and gaming consoles.
