A new decoder to foil satellite-TV pirates

Article Abstract:

General Instrument Corp will manufacture a new device to make it more difficult for satellite 'hackers' to unscramble satellite television programs without paying for service. The satellite television industry is using a two-pronged attack in attempts to prevent people from watching their programs without paying. Government raids on bars, restaurants and individual houses in addition to electronics dealerships selling illegal decoders, should curb distribution and use of the decoders. The new decoder is intended to thwart users of the estimated 530,000 decoders still in use. The new decoder, the Videocipher 2 Plus, has a reconfigured security function. A microprocessor contains the secret instructions needed to unscramble signals in a single integrated circuit that is 'virtually impenetrable.' Old decoders, which were also manufactured by General Instrument, can be replaced for $129.

Product information, Product introduction, Equipment and supplies, Satellite communications, General Instrument Corp., Direct broadcast satellite television, Satellite television, Television equipment, Decoders, Decoders (Computers), GRL, General Instruments Videocipher 2 Plus (telecommunications equipment)

---

The high-tech future

Article Abstract:

Research projects funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that have benefits outside military applications are becoming subject to political debate. A recent retreat of $20 million to $30 million worth of funds for high-definition TV (HDTV) research by the Department of Defense represents the political conflict with funding research for the electronics industry. Proponents of HDTV research note that Japan, which has spent $700 million developing HDTV, is far more advance than the US; military applications for HDTV include monitors and screens in tanks and airplanes. Those who oppose HDTV research note that it is too costly to catch up to Japan and that monies would better be used for support of technologies whose sole purpose is in the military.

Laws, regulations and rules, Finance, Political aspects, Industrial policy, Technology, Mass media, United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Activism, Political protest, High-definition television, High definition television, Research and development contracts, Government, Government research and development contracts, Military research, Mass media and technology, column, Military, Political Issue

---

How 'fuzzy logic' improves TV clarity

Article Abstract:

Sony Corp's Active Signal Correction uses 'fuzzy logic' computer programming to monitor the color, brightness, contrast and sharpness of standard television images to improve screen clarity. The television set is dotted with a grid of 248 reference points and the circuitry monitors these points 60 times a second and compares them with 40 perfect scenes stored on a integrated circuit. The enhancement is available for the Trinitron XBR television set and costs $1,500 for the 27-inch screen set and $2,700 for the 32-inch screen set.

Consumer electronics, Product enhancement, Sony Corp., Product development, Artificial intelligence, Digital television, Television, Screens (Separation), product announcement, Screens, Enhancements

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Take control of your credit cards. How to invest the smart way. Don't let money wreck your marriage
• Abstracts: New records of fossil birds of prey from the Miocene of Kenya. Fossil evidence for chemoautotrophic bacterial symbiosis in the Thyasirid bivalve Thyasira michelottii from the Middle Miocene (Badenium) of Austria
• Abstracts: Albertans struggling to keep their eyes open during dozy campaign
• Abstracts: Phone workers in New York agree to pact to end strike. BellSouth terminates pact with Lin
• Abstracts: The grays give way to color in desktop publishing. Citing rift with board, key Tronic's chief quits. A new supercomputer from Intel

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.