Motorola Launches HD, PVR-Integrated Digital Cable Set-Tops

Motorola has introduced what it says is the industry's first fully integrated digital cable set-top with HDTV, PVR and interactive features.

Based on Motorola's DCT5100 and DCT5200 set-tops, the DCT6000 series includes interactive and entertainment services like PVR (personal video recording) and HDTV; it also includes digital interfaces to DTV, an integrated DOCSIS-compatible cable modem and features that include pausing live TV and recording programs via an EPG interface.

The DCT6200, based on the DCT5100 platform, has an 800 MIPS internal processor, a 150 percent upgrade over the DCT5100. It also features an "Entertainment Package," which enables a direct digital connection to consumer audio and video devices via 1394-DTV and DVI interface. The DCT6200 includes an MPEG encoder, making the set-top "PVR-capable" with the addition of an external 1394 hard disk drive.

The DCT6208 is the industry's first digital cable set-top to combine PVR, HD and interactive features, according to Motorola. Also offering an 800 MIPS processor, 1394-DTV and DVI interfaces and an internal 80 GB hard disk drive, the DCT6208 was developed with DOCSIS set-top gateway (DSG) in mind. Both the DCT6200 and DCT6208 feature DOCSIS-compatible cable modem, a smart-card reader, Ethernet and Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Y-Pb-Pr video output, S/PDIF optical and coaxial digital audio outputs and baseband and RF audio-video I/Os

Motorola plans to deploy the DCT6000 set-tops this summer. The OCAP-capable DCT6000 platform will support applications from Motorola Horizon developer partners, including software from Concurrent Computer Corp., Gemstar-TV Guide International, Liberate, Microsoft TV, Pioneer Digital Technologies and SeaChange International.