1999-11-15 , ESC-9985
Business News From Philips Semiconductors

Partnership combines Divio DV-based single-chip CODEC and Philips Semiconductors' 1394 chip-set, microprocessor, video encoder/decoder and audio CODEC to deliver professional-quality analog-to-digital, digital-to-analog video content conversion solutions

Philips Semiconductors and Divio, Inc. today announced that they will jointly develop and market a reference solution that enables consumer-oriented video input/capture, create/edit and distribution of Digital Video (DV) standardized content. The Divio NW701-DAAD is the industry's most advanced and comprehensive manufacturing kit for desktop devices, that can import, edit, and convert DV and analog content to consumer PCs. The kit is also optimized for an emerging class of new DV appliances including, DVD ReWritable, digital VCRs, HDTV/Plasma displays, video projectors, and other emerging digital motion imaging solutions. The solution will be on display at Fall Comdex '99 in the Technology suite at the Alexis Park hotel.

The Philips Semiconductors and Divio design, which will be available worldwide, represents the first opportunity for manufacturers to bring professional video technology at consumer-friendly price points. As the need for DV video equipment emerges for mass-market applications, the NW701-DAAD will become the DV bridge to the desktop and all other 1394-enabled imaging/video appliances.

The reference design leverages Divio's single-chip DV CODEC encoder/decoder (P/N:NW701) and Philips Semiconductors powerful IEEE1394 chip-set (Full duplex A/V Link P/N:  PDI1394L21 & PHY P/N:  PDI1394P11A), 9 bit video decoder/scaler with 4-line combo filter (P/N: SAA7114), 10 bit video encoder (P/N:  SAA7121) 8051 microcontroller, and audio CODEC (P/N  UDA1340), to enable manufacturers to develop entirely new classes of high-performance DV appliances.

The Divio CODEC, the world's first highly integrated single DV chip, combines patented compression technology originally designed for digital tape recording by camcorders and video tape recorders, requiring as many as 6-7 chips to deliver similar capabilities. Now standardized as IEC-16884 by the International Engineering Consortium, the DV format has become the de facto acquisition and editing format for consumer digital camcorders, professional video cameras, and post-production editing systems. Unlike MPEG2, which is not an acquisition format, DV is transcode friendly and can export to several industry standards including MPEG2. This will enable consumers to produce and distribute universally standardized and professional-quality content.

"The Philips Semiconductors 1394 group continues to advance the technology of 1394 both internally and externally, with designs that incorporate Philips consumer system knowledge for the most optimal solutions," said Dave Sroka, 1394 product line manager for Philips Semiconductors. "In the end we want to provide the most complete solution that meets time-to-market needs and overall system requirements for the entire DV industry."

"Philips Semiconductors and Divio are creating leading DV technology solutions while bridging them to the mass-market," said Isaac van Kempen, vice president of marketing of Divio Inc. "Philips and Divio are enabling DV content creation, which will create an entirely new set of exciting video applications. "More information about this kit can by obtained by contacting sales@divio.com or visiting the Divio web site  www.divio.com. For information about the Philips Semiconductors ICs referred to in this press release visit www.semiconductors.philips.com.

Divio Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, has been a leader in digital video technology development since its founding in 1995. Pioneering the development of chip-based compression products, Divio develops, markets and manufactures an innovative family of solutions that enables real-time input, capture, manipulation and exchange of digital video data for PC and consumer applications. Divio owns or has filed for patents in algorithm, architecture, and implementation for digital video (DV) and Motion JPEG (MJPEG) compression and decompression schemes; missing pixel interpolation; image processing; constant bit-rate control; and efficient video decoding for PC (eyeball) camera applications. More information about Divio's complete range of products and services is available at its home page at  http://www.divio.com/.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier based on Dataquest's 1998 report*). 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. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at http://cdrom.semiconductors.com/

* Based on Vendor Revenue from Shipments of Total Semiconductors Worldwide according to Dataquest's 1998 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share report published in May, 1999.