[justlgi]

DIRECTV Continues High Definition Channel Expansion With Harmonic's DiviCom(R) Electra(R) 7000 Encoders

Electra 7000 encoders today power more than 1,800 HD H.264 channels worldwide. The Electra 7000 supports multiple HD formats including 1080p video at 24 frames per second (fps). The compact and power-efficient one rack-unit (1RU) platform flexibly delivers up to four full resolution HD channels alongside four simultaneous low resolution outputs for picture-in-picture (PiP), multi-channel mosaics and other applications.

Is this just what is used for the "News Mix" type channels? Or something not yet applied?

 

[rhambling]

The technical merits of Harmonic's Electra 7000 encoders and IP-based video processing technologies are outstanding and continue to help us deliver a superior HD experience to our customers.

with the mention of IP based, it sounds like it could be for the new mdu (mfh3?) setup that they are working on. i heard that this new setup will use ethernet instead of coax.

just wait for Stuart to post something as he will clear it up

 

[Stuart Sweet]

I certainly will find out more, but I would expect the primary use for these encoders will be for better picture quality over lower bitrates on HD channels. They don't seem like the kind of systems that would be put in an MDU.

 

[Jeremy W]

The low resolution outputs are used for IPTV systems, like AT&T U-Verse. DirecTV doesn't have any use for them, they just use the encoder normally. They've been using these same encoders for quite a while now, too. Nothing to get excited over.

 

[inkahauts]

I found it interesting to note they can code everything in 1080P/24...

Maybe they will begin pushing channels in 1080P/24 sooner than we think... Especially PPV ones.

 

[TomCat]

I found it interesting to note they can code everything in 1080P/24...

Interesting, maybe, but hardly surprising. 1080p24 has been the de facto acquisition format of choice for some time now, because all other formats can be transparently extracted from it and the equipment has become cheap and ubiquitous.