Philips Semiconductors' Video Decoder Selected For Stream Machine's New Insta-Replay TVô PCI Reference Design

Insta-Replay TVô, With Philips Semiconductors' SAA7114 Video Decoder, Enables TV Viewing With Digital VCR, Time-Shift Recording On PCs

28-Apr-00

Stream Machine, the leader in cost-effective semiconductor solutions for digital home entertainment, announced it has selected the Philips Semiconductors' SAA7114 NTSC/PAL video decoder for its newest version of its popular Insta-Replayô PCI reference design, the Insta-Replay TVô. This new and updated version addresses an enormous convergence market by including a TV tuner to enable digital VCR/time-shift recording on a PC. It also enables creation of content for streaming media applications.There is a large and growing demand to simultaneously access TV broadcasting and the Internet - according to a Showtime/Kagan study, at least 18 million households currently surf the Web on a PC while watching TV. The Insta-Replay TV reference design, with its onboard TV tuner, meets this demand by providing the ability to view TV in a window on a PC monitor and to record TV programming at DVD-quality levels onto the PCs hard-drive. Insta-Replay TV essentially converts the PC into a time-shifting digital VCR. The Stream Machine SM2210 MPEG-2 video codec used on the Insta-Replay TV enables DVD-quality recording at just 2Mbps. This industry-leading compression means more hours of programming can be recorded onto a hard-drive. Other currently available digital VCR solutions for PCs require one gigabyte of disk storage per hour of recording. Stream Machine's MPEG-2 encoding technology requires less than half of one gigabyte per hour. Also, because the Insta-Replay TV is a hardware-based MPEG-2 encode and decode solution, it consumes almost no Pentium CPU cycles during recording or playing back, enabling the user to have multiple open windows and tasks running while simultaneously recording and viewing TV programming in real-time or time-shifted. ""The completeness of the original Insta-Replay reference design has enabled accelerated development of new and affordable products,"" said Stream Machine's President and CEO Michael Canning. ""Working closely with Philips Semiconductors, we now expand Insta-Replay's functionality while preserving its benefits of high video quality at low parts count and, most importantly, low total system cost. The new Insta-Replay TV is a complete reference design for add-in card solutions for PC-based TV tuner/digital VCR time-shift and streaming media content creation. The cost effectiveness of the Insta-Replay TV design will enable products priced at consumer friendly sub-$200 street prices.""The foundation for the Insta-Replay TV PCI reference design is the Stream Machine SM2210 MPEG-2 video encoder/decoder. The PCI card exploits the SM2210's unique combination of high image-quality at low bit rates to provide streaming video with DVD-quality levels while consuming very little system storage. The SM2210's high level of integration and Insta-Replay TV's low parts count are what make real-time, full-resolution, full-frame rate video affordable. MPEG-2 Compression Technology Breakthrough Makes PC Video Useable And AffordableThese breakthroughs in performance, quality and cost are made possible by Stream Machine's single chip MPEG-2 video codec solution, the SM2210. The SM2210 supports real-time video encoding and decoding using a single-pass variable bit rate MPEG-2 encoding technique with proprietary pre-processing - providing higher video quality than traditional constant bit rate or variable bit rate MPEG-2 encoding. This technology enables products based on the SM2210 to have record and playback quality that is visually equivalent to that of DVDs, but at much higher compression settings. This saves valuable hard disk space, enabling more hours of video to be stored per gigabyte.Because the single chip SM2210 is a true codec, performing both encode and decode functions, the total system cost is reduced compared to chip set solutions that use separate MPEG-2 encoders and decoders. The SM2210 further reduces parts count and total system cost by combining a high-degree of system integration with ease of design. For example, the SM2210 eliminates costly glue logic by directly interfacing with popular NTSC/PAL video decoders, such as the Philips Semiconductors' SAA7114, NTSC/PAL video encoders and PCI interface chips for PC applications. The SM2210 also cuts costs by requiring only 4MB of SDRAM for full resolution NTSC 30 frames-per-second MPEG-2 encoding.Stream Machine Selects Philips Semiconductors' Video Decoder For High Video QualityStream Machine selected Philips Semiconductors' SAA7114 video decoder to digitize the analog video signal and optimize video quality. This highly integrated chip combines 9-bit analog-to-digital converters, a high-performance adaptive 4-line comb filter, an advanced up/down 2D scalar, and a versatile data slicer for closed caption and teletext support as well as other advanced features. The SAA7114 also provides hardware-based Macrovision detection and patented Real-Time Control, which are critical in personal video recording and time-shift applications. ""Stream Machine is introducing an innovative reference design that targets the fast-growing PC TV tuner/digital VCR time-shift market, and we are pleased to work with them on this project,"" said Martin Maloney, International Product Marketing Manager, Philips Semiconductors. ""We continue to work on advanced video decoder capabilities and view these types of designs as critical success factors for building market momentum for digital video applications."" Stream Machine's Insta-Replay TV Reference Design Accelerates Time-To-Volume The Insta-Replay TV reference design is a complete MPEG-2 encoding and decoding PCI card. It is used as a platform to accelerate the development of PC-based digital video and audio add-in boards, for applications that include: TV tuner boards with time-shift and digital VCR capability, video capture and playback, streaming media content creation, consumer video capture and editing, and video e-mail. The Insta-Replay TV reference design comes complete, including software/firmware, schematics, bill of materials (BOM), Gerber files, and user documentation to enable products based on these reference designs to be brought quickly to high volume manufacturing.Available NowThe SM2210 single chip MPEG-2 video codec is in full production and available now. Pricing for SM2210 is $49 in 4,000 unit orders and less than $30 in high volumes. The Insta-Replay TV reference design is available now and priced at $5,000. It is expected to show up in consumer products at street prices less than $200. About Stream Machine CompanyStream Machine is at the heart of digital home entertainment providing cost-effective semiconductor solutions that enable industry-leading video and audio compression. Stream Machine's proprietary compression technology offers the highest quality video at the lowest possible bit-rates and is compatible with all the important consumer standards, including MPEG-2, MP3 and DolbyÆ Digital. Stream Machine's high level of integration provides the low system cost necessary to bring DVD-quality entertainment to consumers at a price they can't resist. Please visit www.streammachine.com for more information.

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