The Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA) recently added 21 new members to its rapidly expanding ranks, including Sprint, Toshiba, Broadcom and Mstar Semiconductor.

The latest SCSA contributors join an expansive group of 50 participating companies spanning the larger entertainment and technology industries. These include Qualcomm, Samsung, Comcast, LG Electronics, Cisco, Seagate, MediaTek, Marvell and Dolby Laboratories. It should also be noted that the Rambus Cryptography Research division is a special advisor to the Association.

As SCSA General Manager David Huerta notes, the organization seeks to be at the forefront of 4K Ultra HD technologies by providing consumers with playback of the highest quality downloadable content. Indeed, a recent Intelsat survey determined that over 80% of leading media executives expect 4K UHDTV to become part of the mainstream within the next 10 years.

"Downloadable 4K Ultra HD content provides consumers with the highest-quality viewing experience and the freedom of portability across multiple devices," said Bob O'Donnell, founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research. "Additionally, consumers will avoid buffering and lower image quality otherwise found when streaming high resolution content."

As we've previously discussed onRambus Press, access to uninterrupted and high-quality content on set-top boxes and connected televisions is contingent upon a strong level of hardware-based security against unauthorized access.

For example, MovieLabs published its Enhanced Content Protection specification in September 2013 for access to 4k/UHD content, which requires a hardware-based root-of-trust.

"It is in the content provider and distributors' best interest to provide consumers with the highest quality programming," added Cynthia Yu, a director at Rambus' Cryptography Research division. "By utilizing the hardware security built directly into the consumer's viewing device, you are future-proofing access to premium content for years to come."

Interested in learning more? You can check out "Snowpiercer success highlights growing VOD market" here, "204 million connected TV devices by 2017" here and "MSTAR Semiconductor and Rambus secure connected TVs" here.

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