Acorn Computers Plc said that its set-top box technology will be used with Silicon Graphics Inc’s WebForce MediaBase servers for video on demand applications enabling companies to deploy streaming media technology. Silicon Graphics will work closely with Acorn to deliver customized video-on-demand systems aimed at customers in the corporate, training, education and consumer markets. Acorn set-top boxes can work either in full interactive mode to support video-on-demand style movie playback, or in feed mode to support the presentation of real-time video from TV channel encoders, cameras and other MPEG sources. The Acorn client is a derivative of its STB22 set-top box that delivers high-definition graphics on inexpensive displays, particularly televisions. It will support Ethernet (10Base-T) and ATM Forum local networks, as well as PAL and NTSC television standards. It is currently powered by the ARM7500FE processor, although future clients will feature the StrongARM processor and may be integrated inside television sets themselves. Acorn, based in Cambridge, UK, and Silicon Graphics are taking advantage of the Real Time Streaming Protocols standard originally developed by Progressive Networks, now RealNetworks, and Netscape Communications. RTSP is an open standard for streaming audio and video.
