Zenith, Scientific-Atlanta: analog decoders still live

Electronic News, Dec 13, 1993

GLENVIEWM, ILL.--Despite recent alliances for digital decoder technology with the likes of LSI Logic (EN, Nov. 22), Zenith Electronics is attempting to also extend the life-ime of analog boxes. Cox Cable Communications this month selected analog decoders from Zenith to test interactive television in Omaha, Neb., based on an asymmetric system architecture developed by ICTV, Santa Clara, Calif.

In addition to ICTV's Cable Digital Subscriber Loop (CDSL) platform, the Omaha trial will also use video servers from IBM. John Bowler, Zenith's vice president fo research and development, said the systen will be agile in upgrading interactive services by downloading new software through an out-of-band modem. "This is real, this is today," said Mr. Bowler. "While it is an analog approach it allows the cable operator to determine what kind of revenue is going to be generated... This is a prelude to digital. It doesn't make sense to go out there and start rolling out $250 to $300 digital set-top boxes that give you all kinds of incremental band-width capability and the customers aren't going to buy it."

"The ICTV concept for two-way makes you believe you're on a virtual channel. Even though this is still a tree-and-branch architecture. it seems like a switched star system," he said. "It's a telephone concept--like in having so many subscribers per node, a certain percentage of the homes will actually subscriber to cable, a certain percentage of those at any given time are using it. So certain analog channels are set aside to run video-on-demand. When someone calls up and requests a program, they are force-tuned to a particular channel and that channel is owned via the two-way."

Scientific-Atlanta at the Western Cable Show announced the 8600X terminal, an analog box that will also feature a digital docking station, upgradable memory and downloadable software. Scientific-Atlanta demonstrated a terminal with Interactive Network (IN) Inc., which is testing a wireless interactive system.

However, Mr. Bowler said Zenith is deploying now, while the Scientific-Atlanta box will not appear until Q394. He added that Zenith is offering a shopping list of features for its box, including memory, depending on cable operator requirements. The Zenith decoders also will feature the electronic program guide and VCR control system developed by StarSight Telecast, Inc.

Zenith Electronics and LSI Logic recently formed a partnership for the development of a digital decoder for the next generation of set-top cable TV boxes. The Zenith-LSI agreement will call for co-development and volume production of the decoder IC by late Q3 of 1994. Zenith is also counting big on its 16-level vestigial sideband (VSB) demodulation system, which works with MPEG decoders. Field tests that have 16-VSB can trasmit and receive 43Mbps (equivalent to 23 movies, or nine live video programs) in a single 6MHz channel, the company said.

However, Mr. Bowler said some pieces still need to fall into place for the industry's digital infrastructure. "The biggest question we're facing as we're looking down the road three to four years is what is going to become the interactive multimedia standard," he said. "One thing obvious at the Western Cable Show was that the thing that was the hype of the show the last two years--namely digital compression--is automatically assumed to be a matter of fact. We're all talking about where we're going to be. But the key question now is what will become the standard for the multimedia graphics capability. There are all kinds of different applications out there. What is Microsoft going to do? What is IBM goint to do? What is 3DO going to do? Atari, Amiga, etc. There are all kinds of nice platforms. But we need to keep focused on the investment as the cable operator sees it. If you come out with a $799 box, how much incremental revenue can the cable operator pull out of the home each month."

Zenith expects that "analog will be around an awful long time," Mr. Bowler said, with digital boxes making some inroads. "Will more than 30 percent of homes have digital?" he said. "In a real world it will probably be 68 percent analog, 30 percent digital and about two percent multimedia/interactive." He noted the number of addressable decoders hooked up in cable-equipped homes is still below 50 percent.