Motorola Broadband Communications Sector has announced that MTV Networks will use Motorola's technology and services to build a new transmission system that will enable MTV Networks to digitally transmit its services over satellite and also the opportunity to offer advanced interactive services.

As part of a three-year phased programme, MTV Networks will deploy Motorola's DigiCipher II video compression encoders, access control and commercial IRDs (integrated receiver/decoders), for the Nickelodeon West, CMT East, TNN East, MTV West, and TNN West networks conversion from analogue to digital transmission.The five networks will be transmitted from Viacom's Network Operations Center in New York, using four Digicipher II encoders configured with a total of 25 channels equipped with Motorola's PurePixel(TM) processing. To receive the digital signals, affiliates will use the Motorola DSR-4402X 1RU commercial IRD, which includes two stereo audio outputs, cue tone output, contact closures and a DVB-ASI MPEG-2 transport stream output.

MTV states that Motorola offers a great deal of expertise in large-scale digital deployments and the broadcaster has already experienced a successful digital launch of The Suite from MTV Networks using Motorola's DigiCipher II system with PurePixel processing.

Motorola's PurePixel processing package offers advanced signal filtering and compression techniques that will allow efficient use of the MTV Networks transponders. The package is included with MTV Networks' uplink system, adding sophisticated dual-pass compression analysis, temporal and spatial filtering, and new scene detection techniques to the Motorola DigiCipher II MPEG-2 compression process. This additional processing is tightly coupled with Motorola's Emmy Award-winning statistical multiplexing capabilities to optimize the number of services carried on existing fixed-bandwidth digital transmission paths.

The Motorola Broadband Communications Sector provides a scalable, integrated end-to-end system for the delivery of broadband services that keeps consumers informed, entertained and connected. Its technology enables network operators and retailers to create and execute on new business opportunities by providing innovative products and services to the home. Customer-responsive design and manufacturing expertise further contribute to the company's position as the world's leading supplier of digital cable set-tops and cable modems.