Tandberg Television
Encyclopedia
Ericsson Television, formerly Tandberg Television, is a company providing MPEG-4
video on demand
, and interactive television systems to telecommunications network operators and broadcasters. It was acquired by Swedish
company, Ericsson
in 2007, and was re-branded as Ericsson Television in 2010.
The company has over 1100 employees world wide. The global headquarters are located in Southampton
, England with additional offices in Atlanta, Georgia
and Hong Kong
, SAR. Research and development offices are located in the UK, USA and Hungary while sales and support operations are provided across Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas.
The company was honored at the 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award
s for development of interactive Video-on-Demand infrastructure and signaling, leading to large scale VOD
implementations.
Tandberg Television, originally with headquarters in Lillestrom near Oslo
, Norway, was formed in 1979 when the original Tandberg company split into Tandberg
, Tandberg Data
, and Tandberg Television.
In 1999 Tandberg Television entered into a £170 million agreement to acquire all the assets of NDS Group
’s Digital-TV products business, the Digital Broadcasting Business (DBB), a subsidiary of The News Corporation group. After the acquisition, Tandberg Television could offer digital video compression encoders, multiplexers and modulation products for large satellite DTH systems, terrestrial networks and mobile news gathering solutions.
NDS Group
itself was a merger in 1996 between News Corp's existing News Data Communications (NDC) based in Israel
, a company that supplied smart cards to pay TV operators like Sky TV, and Digi-Media Vision (DMV) a video compression company that News had acquired in 1995 and had been the Advanced Products Division [APD] of National Transcommunications Limited [NTL] in the UK. NTL was itself established in 1990 as the privatised Engineering arm of the Independent Broadcasting Authority [IBA] the UK commercial broadcasting regulator and operator of all commercial terrestrial television and radio transmitters. APD was the R&D department of the IBA.
Much earlier, in 1987, Tandberg Television and the IBA's R&D and Satellite Engineering groups had worked together to build a satellite broadcasting system for the UK based on the ill fated MAC system operated by Sky's rival British Satellite Broadcasting [BSB]. BSB and Sky merged in 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting [BSkyB] which has become a significant broadcaster in the UK.
Since 1999 Tandberg Television has acquired four U.S-based digital media companies. In December 2004 Tandberg Television acquired Atlanta-based N2 Broadband, a provider of open-platform solutions for video-on-demand. In October 2005, they acquired Los Angeles-based Goldpocket Interactive, an interactive technology provider for digital television, the Internet and wireless/mobile networks. Further, in February 2006, they acquired SkyStream Networks, a provider of IP
MPEG-2
and MPEG-4
AVC video delivery solutions, based in Sunnyvale, California
. Later the same year, they acquired Los Angeles-based Internet TV software developer Zetools.
In April 2007, Tandberg Television was acquired by Ericsson
. Tandberg Television operated as an independent entity within the Ericsson Business Unit Multimedia until January 25, 2010, when its name was changed to Ericsson Television Ltd.
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
, and interactive television systems to telecommunications network operators and broadcasters. It was acquired by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
company, Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
in 2007, and was re-branded as Ericsson Television in 2010.
The company has over 1100 employees world wide. The global headquarters are located in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, England with additional offices in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, SAR. Research and development offices are located in the UK, USA and Hungary while sales and support operations are provided across Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas.
The company was honored at the 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award
Technology & Engineering Emmy Award
A Technology and Engineering Emmy Award is given by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in technical or engineering development...
s for development of interactive Video-on-Demand infrastructure and signaling, leading to large scale VOD
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
implementations.
History
Tandberg is a long standing Norwegian company whose history goes back to the 1930s when it supplied domestic radio equipment. It grew into other areas during the decades after WW2 including a well respected audio equipment manufacturer and its reel to reel tape recorders were sought after by HiFi enthusiasts.Tandberg Television, originally with headquarters in Lillestrom near Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway, was formed in 1979 when the original Tandberg company split into Tandberg
Tandberg
This article is about the video-conferencing vendor, a Cisco company. Other companies with the same name such as Tandberg Television or Tandberg Data for data storage: see here and here...
, Tandberg Data
Tandberg Data
Tandberg Data GmbH is a company focused on data storage products, especially streamers, headquartered in Dortmund, Germany. They are the only company still selling drives that use the QIC and VXA formats, but also produce LTO along with autoloaders, tape libraries, NAS devices, RDX Removable Disk...
, and Tandberg Television.
In 1999 Tandberg Television entered into a £170 million agreement to acquire all the assets of NDS Group
NDS Group
NDS Group Plc. is a developer of pay TV technology. NDS was established in 1988 as an Israeli start up company. It was acquired by News Corporation in 1992. The company is currently headquartered in Staines, United Kingdom...
’s Digital-TV products business, the Digital Broadcasting Business (DBB), a subsidiary of The News Corporation group. After the acquisition, Tandberg Television could offer digital video compression encoders, multiplexers and modulation products for large satellite DTH systems, terrestrial networks and mobile news gathering solutions.
NDS Group
NDS Group
NDS Group Plc. is a developer of pay TV technology. NDS was established in 1988 as an Israeli start up company. It was acquired by News Corporation in 1992. The company is currently headquartered in Staines, United Kingdom...
itself was a merger in 1996 between News Corp's existing News Data Communications (NDC) based in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, a company that supplied smart cards to pay TV operators like Sky TV, and Digi-Media Vision (DMV) a video compression company that News had acquired in 1995 and had been the Advanced Products Division [APD] of National Transcommunications Limited [NTL] in the UK. NTL was itself established in 1990 as the privatised Engineering arm of the Independent Broadcasting Authority [IBA] the UK commercial broadcasting regulator and operator of all commercial terrestrial television and radio transmitters. APD was the R&D department of the IBA.
Much earlier, in 1987, Tandberg Television and the IBA's R&D and Satellite Engineering groups had worked together to build a satellite broadcasting system for the UK based on the ill fated MAC system operated by Sky's rival British Satellite Broadcasting [BSB]. BSB and Sky merged in 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting [BSkyB] which has become a significant broadcaster in the UK.
Since 1999 Tandberg Television has acquired four U.S-based digital media companies. In December 2004 Tandberg Television acquired Atlanta-based N2 Broadband, a provider of open-platform solutions for video-on-demand. In October 2005, they acquired Los Angeles-based Goldpocket Interactive, an interactive technology provider for digital television, the Internet and wireless/mobile networks. Further, in February 2006, they acquired SkyStream Networks, a provider of IP
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
and MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
AVC video delivery solutions, based in Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
. Later the same year, they acquired Los Angeles-based Internet TV software developer Zetools.
In April 2007, Tandberg Television was acquired by Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
. Tandberg Television operated as an independent entity within the Ericsson Business Unit Multimedia until January 25, 2010, when its name was changed to Ericsson Television Ltd.