Gennum Enables New Category Of Consumer HD Connectivity

New Solution Provides Full Rate HDMI Performance up to 100 Meters

September 5, 2007

Enabling full rate performance for HDMI at distances up to 100 meters, Gennum Corporation's (TSX:GND) new multimedia connectivity solution delivers the highest performance, longest reach HDMI/DVI multimedia interface currently available to the consumer market. Gennum's new high-performance solution enables consumer confidence that disparate multimedia products will connect and stream multimedia at the highest specifications available today at distances previously unattainable in a single cable. This unprecedented capability will be demonstrated in multiple locations at this week's CEDIA EXPO 2007, being held in Denver, Colorado. The new solution announced today reflects Gennum's increased focus on delivering high-performance mixed-signal and analog solutions that serve the consumer market. Targeting high-rate HDMI applications, the semiconductor-based solution is comprised of a transmitter and a receiver and enables consumer, business and industrial applications to stream HDMI content, via low-cost cable, at distances an order of magnitude greater than cables available today. As important, the new solution supports current and legacy versions of HDMI, including 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, enabling backward compatibility with existing equipment. "This solution represents a significant achievement in cost-effective, high-performance consumer multimedia connectivity and underscores Gennum's commitment to high quality connectivity solutions for consumers," said Martin Rofheart, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Gennum's Analog and Mixed Signal Division. "As HD consumer products continue to penetrate the market, consumers are demanding the cables that connect these devices not degrade the end-user experience irrespective of how close or far these devices are from one another. Gennum's solution is unique in that we can offer cable manufacturers a cost-effective solution that addresses this consumer demand." Industry Support for High Performance, Long Reach HD Multimedia Interface Solutions With strong industry support for its solution, Gennum announced it has been adopted by Belden, a leading manufacturer of cable solutions, in its HD5000 series HDMI cables. The combination of Gennum's connectivity solution and Belden's cable manufacturing expertise delivers products that deliver guaranteed HDMI cable performance and provide consumers with the confidence that various multimedia products will connect and stream content at the highest specifications. "Gennum's technology will allow us to give buyers a unique option when buying HDMI cables for business, industrial and residential multimedia applications," said Marc Stringer, Market Manager for AV Products of Belden. "Currently customers buy HDMI cables based mostly on price and just assume performance is the same. However, as consumers upgrade their products to HD DVD and use the new HDMI 1.3 interface they find many cables cannot support the full rates used in these HD applications. They also find that the longer a cable is, the worse its performance. The Gennum solution addresses this issue by providing the full bandwidth requirement of HDMI 1.3 at distances up to 100m with a single active integrated cable solution." Additionally, Gennum announced Gefen Inc., a global provider of audio/video solutions, is leveraging Gennum's solution in its new VGA to HDMI Extender. This extender uses Gennum's solution to enable pre-installed VGA cabling to be repurposed when upgrading A/V systems to HDMI or DVI connectivity. It carries the HDMI signal over standard VGA cabling, offering a VGA input/HDMI output system perfect for upgrading systems with in-conduit cabling. It extends both audio and video signals up to 100 feet while supporting next generation HDMI 1.3 formats. "Gennum has delivered an innovative technology that opens up a range of possibilities in the custom install and consumer home theater markets," said Hagai Gefen, President and CEO of Gefen Inc. "With the Gefen VGA to HDMI Extender, our customers can easily upgrade their A/V multimedia systems with analog VGA connections to HDMI or DVI using a simple and cost-effective interface." Both product offerings from Belden and Gefen enable full rate (10.2 Gb/s) consumer multimedia connectivity over extended distances at prices competitive with existing solutions. This capability brings consumers a new level of connectivity options, dramatically impacting the overall user experience and cost of high-performance multimedia systems. Leveraging SDI Technology Leadership Gennum leveraged its Emmy(R) award winning SDI technology and more than 16 years of experience as a market leader in delivering studio quality HD signals over long distances to create this solution. Supporting the full suite of HDMI 1.3 features and functions including High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) for secure content protection, the new solution also is fully compatible with single and dual-link DVI interfaces enabling a broad range of multimedia interface solutions to be realized. High Performance Multimedia Connectivity Showcased at CEDIA 2007 Gennum's solution will be demonstrated at the following locations during the CEDIA EXPO 2007 from September 5-9 in Denver, Colorado. -- Belden, Booth #544 -- Gefen, Booth #334 -- Gennum--Demonstrations by appointment Multimedia Connectivity Solution and Reference Design Availability Gennum's new connectivity solution, comprised of the GV8500 and GV8501 chips, are available in a form-factor reference design that may be tailored to fit a wide range of HDMI/DVI multimedia interface products and applications.

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