Hitachi License Strategy & Technology Client Systems RedKey MHEG Engine

Strategy & Technology Client Systems Ltd (S&T), specialists in interactive TV playout systems and MHEG middleware, has announced that Hitachi Europe, leading consumer electronics manufacturer, has licensed the company’s RedKey MHEG engine.
Hitachi has developed a new in-house integrated digital TV (IDTV) platform for use in both its plasma and LCD television sets. As Takashi Kanehachi, DTV Development Group Manager, said MHEG-5 is a UK market requirement and Hitachi wanted to use an experienced software development company.
He said: “There are two main reasons why we chose RedKey: the first is that we found it easy to integrate into our new IDTV platform. The second is that we know that it is reliable both from our own research and its extensive use in the market.”
Plasma and LCD TVs from Hitachi featuring the technology are now on sale in the UK and are available through a wide range of retailers. “MHEG-5 provides the consumer with a far more sophisticated digital terrestrial experience. Manufacturers can implement it with reasonable memory size which means reasonable material and development cost,” said Kanehachi. Thanks to the cooperation of S&T’s engineers, the Hitachi IDTV platform with MHEG-5 passed the rigorous DTG conformance test just over six months from the development start date.”
RedKey is the marketing leading MHEG-5 engine and was the first to fully support UK Profile 1.06. With over 14 million receivers in the UK Freeview has been an undoubted success.
Paul Daly, General Manager, S&T Client Systems, concluded: “It is always satisfying when companies with the stature of Hitachi choose to use our technology. RedKey has been very precisely developed to operate as efficiently as possible and this has been widely recognised.”
(DS/SP)