Industry-Leading DiviCom® Electra™ 7000 Delivers Superior Picture Quality
Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that DIRECTV, Inc. (NYSE: DTV) the world’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operator with more than 16.3 million subscribers, has deployed Harmonic’s market-leading DiviCom® Electra 7000 high definition (HD) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoders for its national HD channel expansion. The solution implemented at DIRECTV for the new HD services also included Harmonic’s market-leading ProStream™ 1000 stream processing platform with DiviTrackIP™ distributed statistical multiplexing, further enhancing bandwidth efficiency and flexibility, and Harmonic’s versatile NMX Digital Service Manager™.
“Harmonic is a reliable partner with outstanding technology and high performance products,” said Rômulo Pontual, Chief Technology Officer at DIRECTV. “The Electra 7000 enabled us to provide superior video quality for the latest expansion of our HD channel lineup that will include up to 100 national HD channels by year-end.”
“Popularity of high definition television continues to grow dramatically as more consumers invest in HD-ready TV sets, and DIRECTV continues to set the pace by expanding its HD offering,” said Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic Inc. “DIRECTV’s selection of the Electra 7000 reflects the strength of our latest generation HD H.264 compression platform. Harmonic has also been focused on developing technologies and solutions that take advantage of the flexibility inherent in an IP-centric architecture, enabling service providers like DIRECTV to implement more advanced services and reduce network cost and complexity.”
Encoding up to four 1080i or 720p HD channels in one rack unit (1-RU) and also delivering simultaneous low resolution output for applications such as picture-in-picture and digital mosaics, the Electra 7000 platform offers operators pristine picture quality.
When used in combination with NMX and DiviTrackIP—the world’s first IP-based statistical multiplexing solution—operators can further improve quality by dynamically adjusting bit-rates according to complexity of the content and create “virtual headends” with any encoder in any multiplex. Thousands of channels today are multiplexed with Harmonic’s market-leading DiviTrackIP solution.
About DIRECTV
DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading satellite television service provider, presents the finest television experience available to more than 16.3 million customers in the United States, through exclusive content, industry-leading customer satisfaction (which has surpassed cable for six years running) and superior technologies. Each day, DIRECTV subscribers enjoy access to over 250 channels of 100% digital picture and sound, exclusive programming and the most comprehensive collection of sports programming available anywhere, including NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ and MLB EXTRA INNINGS®. DIRECTV (NYSE:DTV) also leads the digital television technology revolution with exclusives such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET SuperFan™, US Open Interactive and YES Network Interactive and will soon have the capacity to offer over 150 channels in HD. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please visit directv.com.
About Harmonic Inc.
Harmonic Inc. is a leading provider of versatile and high performance video solutions that enable service providers to efficiently deliver the next generation of broadcast and on-demand services including high definition, video-on-demand, network personal video recording and time-shifted TV. Cable, satellite, broadcast and telecom service providers can increase revenues and lower operational expenditures by using Harmonic’s digital video, broadband optical access and software solutions to offer consumers the compelling and personalized viewing experience that is driving the business models of the future.
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with R&D, sales and system integration centers worldwide. The Company’s customers, including many of the world’s largest communications providers, deliver services in virtually every country. Visit www.harmonicinc.com for more information.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to: the expansion of DIRECTV’s HD channel line-up that will include up to 100 national HD channels by year-end.
Our expectations and beliefs regarding the capabilities of Harmonic’s solutions for HD services and the anticipated benefits to DIRECTV may not materialize, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Harmonic’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its recent Reports filed on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Harmonic does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.
EDITOR’S NOTE – Product and company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.