Motorola Readies HD-Compatible AV Receivers

[Gregg Lengling]

LAS VEGAS--Last year, Motorola introduced the DCP 500 series of home theater receivers with integrated cable TV tuners. But if you weren't in specific cable TV markets, you couldn't get one. This year, Motorola is readying another line of AV receivers with integrated cable tuners, which they plan to offer through retail channels. This shift in distribution is made possible by the Digital Cable Ready standard, which defines how cable TV companies deliver digital TV in a universal way.



The two new receivers also incorporate the latest home theater technologies, including Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES. Two versions of the receiver will be available. Both integrate HDTV digital cable tuners and 100W per channel into six channels. The DCP-601 adds a progressive scan DVD player to the chassis, for a complete, single package solution, while the DCP-600 lacks the integrated DVD player.


The pair of receivers also supports the emerging CableCard standard for secure customer authentication. The unit also integrates a pair of 1394a (FireWire) ports and an Ethernet port. However, HDMI support won't be available in the first versions.


The units sport a fairly limited number of inputs, including a single component video input, but do support DVI output as well as analog video out. Motorola is also readying a digital cable-ready tuner, the HDT-500R, with integrated PVR functionality, allowing users to record HDTV content to a 160GB hard drive, but details were sketchy.