MPEG video support for Linux-based set-top boxes

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Nov. 16, 2000

Milpitas, CA -- (press release excerpt) -- Sigma Designs, a specialist in digital video decoder solutions, announced today that their MPEG technology is a key part of the new National Geode SP1SC10 Set-Top Box reference platform. Sigma is providing their EM8400 MPEG decoder chip and software, which forms the basis for the platform's video delivery from digital TV broadcast, Video-On-Demand streaming, and DVD playback capabilities.

The National Geode SP1SC10 is a reference platform for the Geode SC1200 system-on-chip processor, an embedded 'x86' based architecture. The reference design provides the basis for developing advanced interactive Set-Top Boxes which include digital TV broadcast reception, internet-access and interactivity, time-delay recording, Video-On-Demand, and multimedia gateway functions.

Ken Lowe, Vice President of Marketing of Sigma Designs, said "there is a strong trend in the set-top box market towards using Embedded Linux for new design wins. Most of the new designs are now either Embedded Linux or Windows CE -- roughly 50:50."

About the EM8400

Designed for consumer applications, the EM8400 integrates high quality TV encoding with Sigma's world class MPEG-2 video/audio decoding technology. The EM8400 provides a robust and versatile development platform for a wide range of set-top and consumer applications, including Video on Demand (VOD), streaming video and WebDVD. Features of the device include:

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 decoding support
MPEG-2 video and audio(AC-3/MPEG) decoder
Integrated PCI 2.1 w/ACPI, master/slave bus interface, decryption logic
Video scalar which supports upconvert to HDTV resolutions
True Progressive output
CCIR601 and CCIR656 8/16-bit output
Built in Macrovision protected PAL/NTSC TV encoder S/PDIF or serial output of AC-3 decoded or native signal
DTS pass through digital output
Fully supported under Linux and several other OSes
Supports MCI and DirectShow command set for interactive applications

According to Lowe, Sigma Designs develops and maintains the Linux driver and application support for the EM8400 internally, to ensure the completeness of support along with the highest possible performance.

Related stories:
   National announces set-top-box reference design
   Linux-based Set-Top Box Reference Design Available
   Linux being embedded in 500,000 set-top boxes

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