NDS Powers VOD for Malaysia's Astro

Interactive TV and conditional access technology provider, NDS, said Tuesday that its technologies are powering VOD for the Astro B.yond platform of its existing customer, Malaysia-based Astro. According to the company, the technologies are allowing Astro subscribers to access local and international VOD content over DTH, IP, or hybrid mechanisms that combine both IP and DTH.

Astro has been using NDS's MediaHighway set-top middleware since 1999. In order to enable the delivery of the new Astro VOD service, NDS says, NDS progressive download technology has been implemented both at the headend and through MediaHighway. According to the company, its progressive download technology facilitates the delivery of content over IP, addressing issues associated with low-bandwidth connections in order to enable uninterrupted viewing. Once enough content is delivered to the customer's DVR, the company says, playback can begin while the remaining content is delivered in the background. For Astro's pure DTH set-tops, meanwhile, VOD content is delivered via push mechanisms. In addition to NDS MediaHighway, the Astro B.yond platform uses NDS's VideoGuard conditional access technology, as well as the company's DVR technology with a customized EPG based on the NDS EPG Framework. "Throughout the years NDS have enabled us to enhance our platform, whether through the provision of tools to enable us to introduce our own interactive applications or their flexibility to provide us with the necessary technologies to offer hybrid services such as VOD with progressive download," Astro's director of consumer technology, Shahrul Sultan, said in a prepared statement.