Deutsche Telekom Expands HDTV with Harmonic

Deutsche Telekom has selected Harmonic's recently introduced DiviCom Electra 8000 universal broadcast encoder to expand the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) HD video service to its T-Home Entertain subscribers throughout Germany. The deployment enables T-Home Entertain to offer the largest number of HD channels in Germany.

The Electra 8000 provides up to four standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) channels of superior quality constant bit-rate (CBR) or variable bit-rate (VBR) video using either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC encoding, and can reduce bit-rates by 20 percent. The Electra 8000 also features integrated statistical multiplexing and a built-in broadcast quality up/down converter for differentiated services such as an HD broadcast of the premium SD lineup. This groundbreaking architecture, which can be easily upgraded with a variety of firmware options, eases operational requirements of density and power efficiency, and facilitates the launch of new value-added video services.
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