News Corp.-owned conditional access technology and interactive TV middleware and applications provider, NDS, has signed an agreement with satellite operator, SES AMERICOM, that will see it supporting the latter's IP-PRIME IPTV distribution system with its NDS Synamedia solution. IP-PRIME is billed as a centralized, satellite-delivered IPTV delivery system that allows telcos to bundle standard- and high-definition programming on a single line with their voice and Internet services (SES AMERICOM says that the system will deliver up to 300 channels, encoded into MPEG-4/H.264). Synamedia, which is integrated with NDS's VideoGuard content protection and digital rights management technologies will be used by SES AMERICOM to securely deliver linear TV and VOD services. According to NDS, Synamedia protects content at all stages of delivery, from the broadband access point, through the last mile, to the set-top box. NDS's implementation of the system for SES AMERICOM features a headend-based hardware content-protection solution, which removes the need for a smart card in the set-top box: according to NDS, decryption capability is embedded in the set-top's standard video processor chip, which communicates securely with NDS's VGS network servers. NDS says that it has worked closely with major chipset manufacturers to develop secure video processors that can communicate with secure headend servers, and thus provide strong content protection over two-way networks. The company claims that the approach used in its VGS content-protection solution is stronger than software-based and hardware-assisted solutions, because the content is decrypted entirely within the secure processing blocks in the processor. Benefits claimed by the company for the VGS solution include a safe network environment for authorizations, simplified upgrades for enhanced functionality and security, and reduced set-top box costs (note: no security information is stored in the set-top when it is switched off).
In other NDS news: the company says that Serbia Broadband, the Balkan nation's largest cable operator, has chosen its VideoGuard Express solution to enable its new DTH satellite service. In addition to conditional access technology, the solution incorporates NDS's MediaHighway middleware and an EPG. According to NDS, while Serbia Broadband will initially use VideoGuard Express to offer 25 channels of linear television, the solution can easily be upgraded to support such services as interactive TV, PVR, VOD and near VOD.
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