By Larry J. Fox, Texscan Corporation
The "Idea" of off-premises addressability was introduced to the cable TV industry several years ago. Since that time, several manufacturers have undertaken the task of translating those ideas into the reality of off-premises addressable systems. Each has taken a somewhat different approach to the problem and the resulting systems are now entering the "application" stages. Production of system hardware has begun and systems are ready for installation on a practical basis. This paper presents a viewpoint on why and how the off-premises addressable systems were developed. The characteristics of the Texscan "TRACS" addressable converter system are described with discussion of how off-premises systems may be applied in present and future cable TV systems.