Broadcom introduces chipset for HDMI set-top dongle

Broadcom has entered the HDMI dongle business.

The chipmaker introduced two system on a chip (SoC) products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week necessary to put pay-TV set-tops inside sticks that fit into the HDMI slots of televisions.

Broadcom says the components will deliver pay-TV programming, including 4K, in much smaller form factors, integrating an HEVC decoder, HDMI 2.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

The chipsets also come with optional Mobile High-definition Link (MHL) 2.0 and up to 4x4 5G Wi-Fi.

"This new family brings a major boost in capabilities to what has been primarily an over-the-top (OTT) segment of the market," said Rich Nelson, senior VP of marketing for Broadcom's Broadband & Connectivity Group. "Operators are looking for ways to offer differentiated services on these compact devices and the BCM7250 and BCM72502 with HEVC technology, coupled with our latest video-grade Wi-Fi, makes this possible."

Tech company Alticast also unveiled at CES an HDMI dongle set-top based on the Reference Design Kit (RDK).

For more:
- read this Broadcom press release
- read this Multichannel News story

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