Kaleidoscope Cable: Artist Pitches Screen-Saver Channel

So, what to do with that big HD screen when it's not being used to watch TV.

A company called ArtStream hopes it has the answer to what could become a new challenge for interior decorators with a new electronic elephant in the room.The company is pitching cable operators at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association convention in Las Vegas this week on a new HD channel, kind of like a screen saver, that would turn those big sets into pieces of electronic art, rather than equipment, when not being used to watch shows.

The channel morphs constantly from one abstract image to the next, or can be customized.

The idea began as a fine arts project from artist Jeffrey Paul, but has itself morphed into a business targeted at restaurants, hotels, and doctors offices, as well as homes.

One selling point, says the company, is that it can be delivered via IP at relatively low bandwidths.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.