Worldwide (not region-specific) Digital TV News

Allwinner 4K OTT STB SoC integrates Dolby Audio
Nov 13, 2015 – Allwinner Technology (Shenzhen: 300458) has announced that the company is integrating Dolby Audio technology into its latest 4K OTT set-top box SoC.
News categories: Allwinner, Dolby, Jack Lee, Jeff Wong, Digital TV, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Silicon IP, Streaming, Worldwide

ETSI releases new specification for HbbTV 2.0
Nov 12, 2015 – ETSI has released the latest specification on hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV) which corresponds to HbbTV 2.0. The latest release adds support for new capabilities including companion device support, HTML5 user experience and support for advanced video delivery.
News categories: HbbTV, ETSI, Digital TV, HbbTV, Set Top Box, Smart TV, Worldwide

ABI Research names Ericsson video middleware market leader
Nov 11, 2015 – ABI Research has named Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) the leading global video middleware vendor in their recent competitive assessment covering Middleware, Conditional Access, and DRM.
News categories: Ericsson, ABI Research, Elisabetta Romano, Sam Rosen, Content Distribution, Content Protection, Digital TV, Market Research, Middleware, Set Top Box, Worldwide

Telcos becoming established players in the pay-TV market
Nov 11, 2015 – Operations owned or controlled by telcos accounted for 140 million retail pay-TV customer connections globally at the end of 2014 and this total soared to 177 million during 2015, according to Ovum.
News categories: Ovum, Jonathan Doran, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Mobile, Worldwide

Canal+ international subscriptions compensate losses in France
Nov 10, 2015 – Vivendi has released financial statements for the first nine months of 2015. Canal+ Group had a total of 15.4 million subscriptions, a year-on-year increase of 619,000. Canal+ Group’s pay-TV activities in France are confronted with a particularly difficult economic and competitive environment.
News categories: Vivendi, France, Results, Satellite, Subscribers, Worldwide

Sony Pictures unveils first 4K Ultra HD discs
Nov 10, 2015 – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has announced the studio’s first releases in the 4K Ultra HD Disc format, which will arrive in early 2016. SPHE’s 4K Ultra HD Discs include high dynamic range (HDR).
News categories: Sony Pictures, Man Jit Singh, Blu-ray, Digital TV, USA, Worldwide

Actions Semi launches 64-bit 4K OTT set-top box SoC
Nov 6, 2015 – Actions Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ACTS) has announced the launch of its GT7 chipset featuring 4K H.265 decoding, a quad-core 64-bit CPU and aquad-core GPU, targeting the over-the-top (OTT) set-top box market.
News categories: Actions Semi, Dr. Zhenyu Zhou, Digital TV, ICs, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Streaming, Worldwide

UHD LCD TV panels to exceed 40 percent of total shipment area in 2016
Nov 4, 2015 – Despite overall sluggishness in liquid crystal display (LCD) TV sales, year-over-year unit shipments of UHD TV panels are forecast to double in 2015, topping 40 million units, according to IHS (NYSE: IHS).
News categories: IHS Inc, Ricky Park, Digital TV, Market Research, Smart TV, Worldwide

Eurofins to provide pay TV security certification for MOST in-car infotainment systems
Nov 2, 2015 – Eurofins Digital Testing has announced that it is the official lab for certifying Pay TV enabled automotive infotainment systems, which use the MOST network to transport CI+ protected content, using Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP).
News categories: Eurofins Digital Testing, Andy Hickman, Automotive, Content Protection, Digital TV, QoE, Worldwide