STMicroelectronics Powers New Set-Top Boxes from MultiChoice, South Africa's Top Pay-TV Provider, Boosting Access to High-Definition Services
Advanced STiH237 system-on-chip integrated into new entry-level HD zappers
delivers superior performance, feature integration and future-proof flexibility
Geneva, January 7, 2014 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor
leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and a
top supplier of System-on-Chip (SoC) ICs for set-top boxes and home gateways,
has revealed that its STiH237 System-on-Chip (SoC) will be powering the latest
generation of High-Definition (HD), non-PVR set-top boxes currently under
development by MultiChoice, South Africa's leading pay-TV operator.
The STiH237, part of ST's proven STiH207 family, features a DVB-S2 demodulator,
high-performance ST40 processing core with interface to low-cost DDR3 memory,
H264/MPEG2/VC-1/AVS video decoder, and connectivity including HDMI1.4, USB2.0
and Ethernet. Ideal for building competitively priced satellite zapper boxes
with a small footprint, it delivers best-in-class performance with superior
processing and high audio/video quality, enabling operators to add new services
quickly and cost-effectively.
"The STiH237 SoC is clearly the right choice for our latest generation of set-
top boxes," said Gerdus van Eeden, CEO of Broadcast Technology at MultiChoice.
"ST offered a chipset with the right power, versatility and features to meet our
market needs. It was also offered at a price that made the important transition
from SD MPEG 2 to HD MPEG 4 on our DTH zappers affordable to our business."
"This is an important design win for ST. MultiChoice is South Africa's leading
pay-TV service provider, and has a distinguished heritage as one of the first
such operators to launch outside the US," said Alessandro Messi, Vice President
and General Manager, South, East Europe and Emerging Market Sales Unit,
STMicroelectronics. "The number of customers placing their trust in our STiH207
family continues to grow around the world, confirming the devices' ability to
meet operators' needs in a variety of developed and emerging markets."
MultiChoice is using an advanced conditional access (CA) security scheme and
middleware in its new set-top boxes, leveraging the STiH237's broad ecosystem
that supports a wide range of third-party security and software technologies.
This allows customers to determine their preferred content protection, core set-
top box functionality, and user-interface look and feel. Moreover, all devices
in the STiH207 range, specifically the STiH207, STiH237, STiH239, STiH273 and
STiH223 are ball-out and software compatible, enabling faster time-to-market and
reduced hardware costs. In addition, compatibility with decoder ICs, such as the
STi7111, allows developers to upgrade legacy equipment designs.
About MultiChoice
Some three decades ago, M-Net launched South Africa's first pay-TV station (at
that stage, the only direct-to-home digital satellite broadcaster outside of the
United States). M-Net's subscriber management arm broke off to form the parent
company - MultiChoice - and this corporation now includes subsidiary businesses
such as DStv, MWEB and SuperSport.
MultiChoice's influence in the South African market extends beyond the scope of
its core businesses. Through corporate social investment, the company actively
participates in grass roots level transformation and, through the power of
technology, enables individuals and communities to become self-enabling.
About STMicroelectronics
ST is a global leader in the semiconductor market serving customers across the
spectrum of sense and power and automotive products and embedded processing
solutions. From energy management and savings to trust and data security, from
healthcare and wellness to smart consumer devices, in the home, car and office,
at work and at play, ST is found everywhere microelectronics make a positive and
innovative contribution to people's life. By getting more from technology to get
more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.
In 2012, the Company's net revenues were $8.49 billion. Further information on
ST can be found at www.st.com.
For Press Information Contact:
STMicroelectronics
Michael Markowitz
Director Technical Media Relations
+1 781 591 0354
michael.markowitz@st.com
STMicro STB Design Win with MultiChoice:
http://hugin.info/152740/R/1753069/591224.pdf
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