CableLabs has awarded qualified status to NDS for its Cablecard, formerly known as point-of-deployment (POD) removable security module. NDS joins Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola as having achieved qualified status for Cablecards. The Cablecard architecture is a key component of the cable operator-consumer electronics manufacturer “Plug-and-Play” agreement announced in December 2002.

The Cablecard is a critical element in enabling manufacturers and retailers to engage in retail sale of interoperable navigation devices - such as set-top boxes and integrated digital television sets that enable consumers to identify and select their programming. Cablecards enable a device to decode encrypted, or scrambled, content delivered from cable systems.

The cable industry, through OpenCable, began working on the next-generation set top in the fall of 1997. Later, the FCC acknowledged OpenCable as the most efficient vehicle by which to accomplish its regulatory objectives. OpenCable took on the technology mission of achieving interoperable, specification-based advanced digital video functionality allowing retail sale of set tops developed by multiple manufacturers.

CableLabs Certified or CableLabs Qualified means that the device has passed a series of tests for compliance with the indicated version of a CableLabs’ specification and has thus demonstrated interoperable functionality with any other "CableLabs certified/qualified" device.

Many of these devices provide other functions or are designed to comply with other specifications, in each case tailored by the manufacturer to meet the growing needs of consumers or cable operators in an evolving communication / entertainment sector.

Founded in 1988 by members of the US cable television industry, Cable Television Laboratories is a non-profit research and development consortium that is dedicated to pursuing new cable telecommunications technologies and to helping its cable operator members integrate those advancements into their business objectives.