- Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. is shipping its new encoding solution designed to deliver cost-effective, high-quality HD video content for educational, enterprise, hospitality, healthcare, government, and pro AV applications.
Priced under $850 USD per channel, the easy-to-use HDE-8C-QAM MPEG-2 HD encoder provides users with reliable and efficient performance and supports Dolby Digital audio encoding. The first units have shipped to Nickless Schirmer & Company for deployment at Emory University in Atlanta as part of its campus digital upgrade.
"This latest offering from Blonder Tongue illustrates our commitment to providing advanced technologies which greatly improve quality, reliability, and workflow for our customers across a broad range of markets and applications," said Emily Nikoo, executive vice president of Blonder Tongue. "Leveraging our many years of experience in the design of superior-quality professional video products, we're able to offer MPEG-2 HD video encoding for the price of SD."
Engineered and manufactured in the United States, the HDE-8C-QAM offers feature-rich applications and the benefits of much higher-cost solutions, accommodating the growing needs of users. The encoder accepts programs from eight component or composite inputs, such as satellite receivers and cable set-top boxes, and offers the built-in ability to switch over any of the primary inputs for a spare input for uninterrupted service. This feature is automatic on specific models. The HDE-8C-QAM HD encodes MPEG-2 video up to 1080i, multiplexes, and modulates the eight input programs into four adjacent clear QAM channels. The encoder's clean QAM constellation and superior output allow for high channel count headend deployments. The encoder features an accessible RF test point for monitoring and testing without service interruption.
With its user friendly Web-based interface and front-panel test point, the HDE-8C-QAM dramatically lowers the learning curve for system operators and thus reduces operational expenses. For intuitive operation, the encoder provides comprehensive GUI-based monitoring and control via standard Web browsers.
