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August 09, 2012

SMARDTV’S SMARCAM PRODUCT LINE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES CI PLUS V1.3 CERTIFICATION

  • SmarCAM CI Plus modules with CI Plus v1.3 enable features including Operator Profile (channel scanning) and Video-On-Demand
  • The SmarCAM-3.5 has been certified for CI Plus v1.3 by Digital TV Labs, the Approved Test Centre of CI Plus LLP
  • The SmarCAM-3.5 technology has been selected by Digital TV labs for the certification of CI Plus televisions and set top boxes

Cheseaux, Switzerland – August 9, 2012 – SmarDTV, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) company, today announced that its latest generation of Conditional Access Modules, the SmarCAM-3.5, has successfully passed the CI Plus v1.3 certification. In addition, Digital TV Labs has made a custom development based on the SmarCAM for the official CI Plus Test Tool, which is used for the certification of CI Plus televisions and set top boxes.

“The successful development and certification of the CI Plus version 1.3 features is a major milestone in the history of our company. Building complex features such as operator profile and VOD into a CAM brings great benefits for operators and also leverages the powerful platform we have developed for our SmarCAM product line,” said Laurent Molac, Vice-President of Engineering at SmarDTV.

Through CI Plus v1.3, the latest Common Interface specification, the SmarCAMs will now offer new features including Operator Profile (the ability for an operator to enable specific channel listing according to privately defined mechanisms) and Video-on-Demand directly to iDTV. These new features bring large benefits to operators and are expected to drive the further penetration of CI Plus modules in the satellite and cable markets in coming years.

Laurent Molac continued “Channel ordering has been a particular concern for operators on satellite and cable networks who desire to have defined channel numbers – this is now solved via the new specifications and also the addition of Video-on-Demand has been a consistent request from the cable market in particular. We believe that these new features are very valuable to operators and we expect to launch modules in Q4 with such features. We have also collaborated with Digital TV Labs to ensure that the host testing tools are available to enable 2013 iDTV model testing.”

“For our new certification tool, we looked for a reliable module technology which is supported by a trusted partner and provides an efficient development environment, enabling us to build a dependable testing tool and a robust certification regime,” commented Keith Potter, CEO of Digital TV Labs. “Amongst the different platforms evaluated, the SmarCAM appeared to best fulfill these key criteria. Our CI Plus 1.3 certification services are now fully available to the TV industry.”

The members of SmarDTV’s Interoperability Partner Program (CI+ IPP) have already been supplied with SmarCAM-samples, ensuring that their TVs and STB are interoperable with the SmarCAM even before any field deployment. This partner program addresses a key difficulty of any new technical specification adoption.

The SmarCAM product line will be demonstrated at IBC 2012 to be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 7th to 11th, Hall 1, Booth 1.C81.

About SmarDTV
SmarDTV, a Kudelski Group company, is an international leader in pay television technology. SmarDTV designs and manufactures highly secure, interchangeable modules and associated enabling technologies, which provide an attractive alternative to Set-Top Boxes to access digital PayTV by requiring only one remote control, offering much lower energy consumption and not requiring extra cables. SmarDTV CAMs and CableCARDs are used daily by millions of subscribers around the world. A founding member of CI Plus Forum, SmarDTV is headquartered in Switzerland with development and sales offices in France, Germany and Singapore. Please visit www.smardtv.com for more information.

Contact

Alexandre Humbersot
SmarDTV
Tel: +33 (0)4 42 83 87 05
[email protected]

Rachel Bick
Digital TV Labs
Tel: +44 (0)1179 154 018
[email protected]

Note to the editors
SmarCAM-3 is plugged directly in the digital TV using the industry standard DVB-CI interface and the signal is always in digital format. No analog conversion or interface is necessary, providing improvement over traditional Set-Top Box connectivity that often uses SCART connectivity.

CI Plus is a technical specification that adds additional security and features to the proven DVB Common Interface Standard that will allow CI Plus compatible consumer electronic devices, such as Integrated Digital Televisions and Set-Top Boxes, access to a wide range of Pay TV Services via plug-in CI Plus Modules wherever the CI Plus Technology is supported by the local Pay TV provider. More information on CI Plus (specification, implementation guideline, license agreement) is available at www.ci-plus.com.