MPEG-4 Part 10 And VC-1: Must-Haves For The Set-Top Box Of The Future, Says ABI Research

13-Jan-05

Advanced video decoders are finding a role as standard features of Internet Protocol set-top boxes (IP-STBs). According to new studies from ABI Research, they will be found on virtually all new STBs by 2008. MPEG-4 Part 10 (aka AVC) -- the ISO standard codec that is the algorithm of choice for the DVD and digital broadcast industries -- and VC-1 -- the compression component of Microsoft's Windows Media technology -- are included in about 30% of currently available IP-STBs, says the company. ""IP-STBs are not yet as numerous as 'regular' digital STBs,"" says ABI Research Analyst Joseph Yau, ""but they are definitely a growing segment of the set-top box market. More and more telcos and IPTV providers are deploying video over IP and DSL, and their subscribers will need these IP-STBs and residential gateways to decode the signals."" According to ABI Research's Director of Broadband Research, Vamsi Sistla, ""the larger providers are hoping to adopt these high compression codecs, while smaller ones with more limited budgets are for the time being adopting a 'band-aid' approach, with MPEG-2. However they will move to the superior formats eventually to take advantage of 30% bandwidth savings once cost comes down."" ABI Research's study ""IP Set Top Boxes: MPEG-2/4 IP STBs, Gateways and Media Centers"" offers timely data on the penetration of emerging Telco TV, IP set-top box, and gateway technologies, examining global trends in shipments, average selling price (ASP), and revenue growth across IP set-top box devices. Another study, ""The Future of Cable, DBS, IP and Terrestrial Set Top Boxes"" covers various distribution networks, including digital cable, DBS, fiber, terrestrial, DSL and IP-based networks.