1998-09-10 , E/IC-1038/54
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors and Divio Inc have developed a new manufacturing kit for digital video (DV) applications. The kit contains software and a reference board featuring the Divio DV codec NW701 and Philips Semiconductors' digital video decoder ( SAA7112) and encoder (SAA7121), PCI bridge ( SAA7146A) and audio codec ( UDA1340).

The world's first single-chip digital video encoder-decoder (CODEC), the Divio NW701, replaces up to seven dedicated chips. It provides designers of digital camcorders and nonlinear video editing equipment with a broadcast quality, highly-integrated and cost-effective platform.

The manufacturing kit allows implementers to integrate the NW701 quickly and efficiently into their designs, without having to develop interfacing software and hardware.

The reference board is built around the Philips Semiconductors SAA7146A PCI bridge. It features an Intel/Motorola style interface, which is essential for a glueless interface to the DV-codec. The SAA7146A also features a high performance scaler, an audio port, which connects to a Philips Semiconductors UDA1340 audio codec and dual digital video in/out ports, which allow interfacing to the digital video ports of a digital video decoder and encoder. On the reference board these are the Philips Semiconductors SAA7112 decoder and SAA7121 encoder, which provides output to a TV.

"The Divio manufacturing kit is a system solution to allow designers to concentrate on issues like product differentiation, confident that the devices interface smoothly and that software drivers are available for the complete system," said Martin Maloney, marketing manager for desktop video ICs of Philips Semiconductors. "Philips Semiconductors is developing such system solutions, either alone or in partnership with specialists such as Divio. In this case, using the SAA7146A PCI bridge provides the designer with considerable flexibility in integrating the Divio codec into a system

"The NW701 provides high performance packaged in a way that will allow manufacturers to dramatically lower the cost of product development and minimise engineering development," said Isaac van Kempen, vice president of marketing of Divio Inc. "Philips Semiconductors' industry-leading range of standard components complement the codec, and together they produce an optimal solution."

High quality video compression is a fast growing application. The NW701 provides the power to extend the capability beyond broadcast television into consumer video, into video publishing, video servers and even digital video tape recorders.

The manufacturing kit is available directly from Divio.

Divio, formerly Next Wave Technology, develops, markets and manufactures an innovative family of chip-based solutions that enables the real-time input, capture, manipulation and exchange of digital video data for PC and consumer applications. Its products power emerging applications in digital video recording, video publishing, broadcast, digital imaging and video communications, dramatically reducing price/performance barriers. Divio has developed the world's fastest Motion JPEG codec and the industry's first single-chip DV codec, and 12 patent pending compression technologies.

Divio, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, has been engaged in digital video technology development and testing since its founding in 1995. Information about Divio's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at  http://www.divio.com

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world and the third largest supplier of discretes in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.