TelcoTV: Thomson exec warns against ‘bells, whistles’ syndrome

“They deploy the networks in parallel,” Maisl said. “Old customers get a choice – they can stay with the existing system, but if they want more features, they have to upgrade their set-top box and pay for a share of the cost.”

Some set-top boxes can be reprogrammed, Maisl said – Thomson has done this with Amino set-tops for example – but in many cases, the STB deployed is an older model that can’t support new features.

“We are starting to see some interest in switching [middleware providers] in the United States, but it’s just starting here,” Maisl said.

Thomson was showing its new portal with user recommendations based on profiles established at the time of deployment, on customer-entered ratings, and on the system’s recommendation engine which tracks viewing behavior and makes Amazon-like recommendations. Thomson also demonstrated its version of “fast-zapping,” or rapid channel change, which uses dual streams of HD and low-res picture-in-picture video. If a channel change occurs during the relatively long gaps between I-frames of the HD signal, the initial picture version the consumer sees is the low-res version, which is transformed to HD as soon as possible and usually before the human eye is aware of the change, said Jean Macher, director of marketing for headend networks and integration solutions.