Acorn Online Media Set Top Box
 | |
| An Online Media STB1, model STB10N (photo: Chris Whytehead, CC BY-SA 3.0) | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Online Media (Acorn Computer Group) |
| Type | Interactive television set top box |
| Released | 1994 (STB1, Cambridge trial) |
| CPU | STB1: ARM610 at 30 MHz. STB20: ARM7500 at 32 MHz |
| Memory | STB1: 4 MB. STB20: 32 MB |
| Storage | None as standard (the STB20M has an IDE hard disc) |
| Display | — |
| Sound | — |
| OS / Firmware | STB1: RISC OS 3.50. STB20: RISC OS 3.61 |
| Model no. | STB10N (STB1); STB20; STB20M; STB22 |
The Acorn Online Media Set Top Box is the series of interactive television set top boxes made by Online Media, a company in the Acorn Computer Group, for video-on-demand trials in Cambridge from 1994. The first, the STB1, is a cut-down Risc PC with an ATM network card and an MPEG video card. The STB20 that followed is a new design around the ARM7500, and the STB22 a later development of it, branded Acorn.[1][2][3]
History
[edit | edit source]Online Media's press release of 30 September 1994 announced what it believed was the world's first interactive television trial based on ATM digital networking. The consortium was Anglia Television, ATM Ltd, Cambridge Cable and Online Media, which supplied the set top boxes. Services included films and Anglia news on demand, educational software and games converted from Acorn's 32-bit computers. The boxes went first to selected employees' homes, with more homes to follow, and the release describes Online Media as launched in July 1994.[4] Chris Whytehead gives August 1994 for the company's formation, and records that the trial grew from ten users to about a hundred plus schools, with content from the Post Office, Anglia TV, IPC Magazines, Tesco, NatWest and the BBC.[1]
The STB20 followed in 1996.[1] Wikipedia dates the launch of the box for the Cambridge Cable and Online Media video-on-demand trial to early 1996, and records a NatWest trial shown at Acorn World in 1995.[3] When Acorn was broken up in 1999, the set top box business was sold to Pace Micro Technology.[1]
Models
[edit | edit source]| Model | Hardware | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| STB1 (STB10N) | Risc PC Mark 1 main board (labelled "1104,000 (Mk1) Spinner Main"), ARM610 processor card mounted flat, 4 MB SIMM, VIDC20, RISC OS 3.50, Wild Vision ATM network card, Wild Vision Movie Magic MPEG card with SCART output on a one-slot backplane (1202,310), A7000 power supply (1104,010); no disc drives | Project name Spinner. Chris Whytehead's card is a 30 MHz ARM610; Wikipedia gives 33 MHz |
| STB20 | New main board (1106,000) with a 32 MHz ARM7500, 32 MB, RISC OS 3.61, C-Cube MPEG decoder, a daughterboard for the PS/2 keyboard and mouse sockets; one podule position; no floppy drive | Project name Falcon |
| STB20M | Main board 1206,000 with a 32 MB DIMM, extension ROM, IDE hard disc and an i-cubed EtherLan card on a home-made backplane | Used as a development system |
| STB22 | A development of the STB20, branded Acorn | Shown with a wireless keyboard and remote control |
Sources: Chris's Acorns and Wikipedia.[1][2][3][5]
Connections
[edit | edit source]The STB1's rear panel has the power switch and inlet, two SCART outputs (the lower one on the Movie Magic card), the Risc PC's reset button, headphone, VGA, PS/2 keyboard, mouse, parallel and serial sockets, the ATM socket and stereo phono outputs. None of the sockets is labelled.[1] The STB20 has a channel 32 to 40 selector, TV out and TV in sockets, composite (CVBS) and S-Video (SVHS) sockets, joystick, parallel and audio connections, and two SCART sockets.[2]
Repair notes
[edit | edit source]Online Media published no service documentation that has been found, and Chris Whytehead's STB1 and STB20 came without any.[1][2]
- The STB1 is built from Acorn parts: a Risc PC main board, an A7000 power supply and an Acorn one-slot backplane.[1] The Acorn Risc PC 600 and Acorn A7000 pages cover those boards and supplies, but check part numbers before relying on them, because the STB1 board is a "Spinner" variant.
- The STB1 has no disc drives, and the STB20 has no floppy drive or connector, so software cannot be loaded in the usual way. Chris Whytehead could not run his benchmark tools on the STB20 for that reason.[2]
- Chris Whytehead found it easy to break out of the STB20M's menu system to the RISC OS desktop.[2]
- His STB20 has no memory fitted and does not work. The memory socket is at the bottom right of the board, beside the RISC OS ROMs.[2]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]-
STB1 rear panel (photo: Chris Whytehead, CC BY-SA 3.0) -
STB20 (photo: Chris Whytehead, CC BY-SA 3.0) -
STB20 with the cover removed (photo: Chris Whytehead, CC BY-SA 3.0) -
STB20M main board (photo: Chris Whytehead, CC BY-SA 3.0) -
Acorn Set Top Box 22, Acorn publicity photograph
.jpg)
Related pages
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Whytehead, Chris. "Online Media STB1", Chris's Acorns, The Centre for Computing History (retrieved 2026-10-02). Online Media set up as an Acorn subsidiary in August 1994; the Cambridge interactive TV trial from September 1994; STB1 a customised Risc PC in an A7000-style case, project name Spinner, probably 200 to 300 made; configuration, photographs and specification of his STB1 (model STB10N, serial 100185); STB20 launched in 1996; the set top box business sold to Pace Micro Technology for £200,000 when Acorn was broken up in 1999.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Whytehead, Chris. "Online Media STB20", Chris's Acorns (retrieved 2026-10-02). STB20 based on the ARM7500 with 32 MB, internal project name Falcon; no floppy drive; his STB20 (serial 80-STB20-0010266, board 1106,000 issue 1, no memory, not working) and STB20M (board 1206,000 issue 1, 32 MB DIMM, Seagate ST51270A 1.28 GB IDE disc, i-cubed EtherLan card, RISC OS 3.61 of 1 August 1995, 18.56 MIPS); rear panel connections.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Acorn Online Media Set Top Box", Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-10-02). Cambridge Cable and Online Media video-on-demand trial, launched early 1996; NatWest trial shown at Acorn World 1995; STB1 ARM610 at 33 MHz, 4 MB, RISC OS 3.50 in 4 MB ROM; STB20 ARM7500, 32 MB, RISC OS 3.61; STB22 branded Acorn.
- ↑ Online Media, press release PR 03/30.09.94, "Online Media Goes Live With World's First Digital Interactive Television Trial In Cambridge", 30 September 1994. Text via Chris's Acorns.
- ↑ Whytehead, Chris. "Acorn NCs, STBs & Prototypes", Chris's Acorns (retrieved 2026-10-02). Set Top Box 22, a development of the STB20, with an Acorn publicity photograph.