Analog Devices Introduces New SHARC Processors

10-Dec-03

Designers of audio/video receivers, DVD players, home theatre equipment and in-car entertainment systems are striving to bring studio-quality audio to customers quickly and at affordable prices. In response to this trend, Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI) announced its third generation of SHARCÆ Processors designed specifically to meet the needs of a broad range of consumer products. Audio industry leaders Denon, Dolby, Kenwood, Pioneer and Yamaha applauded the advancement.The new SHARC Processors feature high integration for lower system costs, support for the latest audio decoders and post-processors, and numerous audio-specific on-chip peripherals. They empower manufacturers to offer everyday consumers the same listening experience already provided by previous generations of SHARC Processors in studio equipment from industry leaders such as DBX, Solid State Logic (SSL) and Mackie. Through its programmable design, the SHARC Processor offers manufacturers the ability to support new audio formats and post-processing technologies, enabling faster time-to-market for a broad range of products with different feature sets and price points.Responding to consumer demand to bring the movie theatre experience into the home, ADI has leveraged its industry leadership in studio pro audio equipment and high-end home theatre to deliver affordable technologies to a wider range of consumer products. Furthermore, this expertise allows ADI to bring an equally robust experience to automotive audio systems.""ADI has built a strong reputation in all segments of the professional and audiophile equipment markets, with the SHARC Processor recognized as a de facto standard for top-of-the-line AVRs, recording studio consoles and luxury-car audio systems,"" said Brian McAloon, Group Vice President and General Manager, Digital Signal Processing Systems division, Analog Devices, Inc. ""With our newest generation of processors, we are able to provide this same quality in audio signal processing for a broader range of applications, allowing our customers to add more functions and performance to their products at mass-market prices.""According to a recent IDC Report, the consumer audio market is seeing exponential growth. IDC estimates that the combined worldwide revenue of DVD recorders, home theatre-in-a-box systems and automotive DVD units will reach more than $11 billion by 2005.Being first-to-market is critical to remaining competitive for consumer electronics manufacturers. ADI fosters this competitive advantage by being first to be certified for consumer electronics equipment running MicrosoftÆ Windows MediaÆ Audio 9 Professional (WMA 9 Pro) and DolbyÆ Pro LogicÆ IIx.About ADI's Third-Generation SHARC ProcessorsThe new family of high-performance SHARC Processors provides a complete audio processing platform for automotive and consumer electronics manufacturers. With a total of 6 Mbits of internal memory, the ADSP-21266 is targeted at the audio/video receiver market where on-chip support for a large number of audio decoders and post-processors is required. The ADSP-21267 is a lower-cost version of the ADSP-21266 and offers 4 Mbits of on-chip memory to very cost-sensitive car audio market segments. The ADSP-21364, with its high-performance sample rate converters, is targeted at the professional audio market while the ADSP-21365 is targeted at mid- and upper-level car audio applications.Enabling higher audio sample rates and providing the computational capability to support the newest formats, the new SHARC Processors offer up to triple the performance over previous product generations and provide the highest overall performance in the industry for consumer audio applications. In addition to Dolby Pro Logic IIx and Microsoft WMA 9 Pro, the new SHARC Processors support the full range of high-resolution audio formats, including PCM 96 kHz, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ESÆ, DTSÆ 96/24, DTS Neo:6Æ, MPEG-2, MPEG-2 AAC and SRSÆ. These audio algorithms enable functionality such as 7.1-channel audio, bass management and 96 kHz sampling rates to support the latest DVD formats.The SHARC ADSP-21266 is sampling today and will be in production in the first quarter of 2004. The ADSP-21267 and ADSP-21365 will be sampling in the first quarter of 2004, and the ADSP-21364 will be sampling the second quarter of 2004. Per-unit pricing in quantities of 10,000 units for the ADSP-21267 is $9.95, for the ADSP-21266 is $14.95, for the ADSP-21365 is $19.95, and for the ADSP-21364 is $24.95. For more information, visit www.analog.com/SHARC.

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