In January 2016, the GS Group investment and industry holding company presented the first Russian digital TV set-top box to support the Ultra HD (4K) broadcasting called the GS A230. This new model under the General Satellite brand means that 4K video content can now be viewed on modern Ultra HD TV-sets. The GS A230 STB is equipped with a Wi-Fi modem for wireless connection to the home network and features an internal 1TB hard disk. The first Ultra HD television channels in Russian are already available to subscribers of the leading digital television provider in Russia, Tricolor TV.
The first Russian television set-top box supporting 4K TV, the GS A230, was first displayed to the public on January 26th, 2016 at the CSTB Telecom & Media international exhibition and forum. The device has two integrated DVB-S/DVB-S2 tuners to receive satellite signal and broadcast the ultra-high definition TV content to modern Ultra HD TV-sets. The STB is powered by a new STMicroelectronics microprocessor and co-processor designed by GS Group, which is used for the first time in consumer electronics. The quad-core single-chip ARM Cortex-A9 system from STMicroelectronics has an output of 12,000 DMIPS for super high-speed data processing. The integrated ARM Mali400-MP4 graphics processor works at 400 MHz to ensure processing at 1,600 Mpix/s.
The GS A230 UHD set-top box is aimed at the premium market in Russia. The device supports all the modern Ultra HDTV standards, including HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding). The GS A230 is equipped with an internal 802.11ac Wi-Fi modem with a data speed of up to 1.75 Gb/s to ensure a wireless connection of the STB to the home network as a server for independent and “mirror” transmission of video content to client devices, whether it is a smartphone, tablet or the GS Gamekit game console. The receiver also has the new standard HDMI 2.0 multimedia interface that is necessary to watch ultra-high definition TV using a wired connection to a UHD TV-set. The GS A230 users can choose a wired connection to the GS C5911 client STB for independent streaming onto a second TV screen.
The GS A230 has an internal 1TB hard disk (HDD) and is equipped with two USB connectors for playback of media content from external data sources, 3RCA connectors and an optical S/PDIF connector. The updated Stingray TV software program has a user-friendly graphic interface and supports smart functions such as PVR (content recording to HDD) and TimeShift (“pause and record”). The use of functions is determined by the copyright holder of the content. The GS A230 also provides an access to interactive services and apps such as “Tricolor TV.Kinozaly” and smart electronic programme guide (EPG). The new GS A230 server has a modern and sleek casing and an elegant design.
“As the flagship of the Russian telecommunications industry and the leader in the development and production of consumer electronics in our country, the GS Group holding company provides consumers with the latest TV viewing standards. The launch of such a complex and advanced product as the GS A230 UHD set-top box, completely developed and produced in Russia, demonstrates how competitive Russian producers are in the global market. It’s the next major step towards the GS Group holding company seizing technological leadership in the telecommunications field,” – Andrew Bezrukov, Director for Strategic Marketing, GS Group.
The GS A230 set-top box will be available for sale through official dealers of the General Satellite consumer electronics at the end of the first quarter of 2016.