ViXS Systems Introduces High Quality Dual TV Tuner Reference Design For Media Personal Computers

Advanced MPEG Video Encoding Brings New Functionality to Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition PCs, Including Watch-and-Record, Picture-in-Picture Display and Dual Channel PVR Capabilities

13-Oct-04

ViXS Systems, the leading developer of video processing and wireless networking chipsets and software, today announced the availability of the companyís new Dual TV Tuner Board Reference Design with complete drivers for MicrosoftÆ WindowsÆ Media Center Edition 2005. The ViXS dual-tuner reference design enables TV tuner board manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively build PC TV tuner cards that allow media PCs to support advanced TV-like capabilities such as picture-in-picture display, and simultaneous watch-and-record for personal video recording (PVR), and dual-stream analog video recording. The ViXS Dual TV Tuner Board Reference Design is based on the companyís XCode II video processor, which allows for dual stream MPEG2 encoding on a single chip. XCode II incorporates advanced noise filtering and 3D comb filtering features that deliver broadcast-quality video streams and artifact-free image quality at even the lowest bit rates, virtually eliminating the expected ìhigh vs. low bit rateî quality tradeoff. As a result, PC OEMs benefit from improved video quality while minimizing their bill of material (BOM) and production costs. The tuner board also improves overall system performance since PCs no longer need to rely on the CPU for video processing. With the ViXS Dual TV Tuner Board, any PC can become a high-performance multimedia center. ìPC manufacturers recognize that the market transition from a CE-centered to a PC-centered home gateway depends on their ability to deliver the same quality viewing experience that a CE television provides,î said Sally Daub, President And Chief Executive Officer of ViXS Systems. ìOur video tuner reference design raises the bar for the PC industry, giving consumers a new level of flexibility and quality that the market has not yet seen.îThe ViXS Dual TV Tuner Board Reference Design features several unique capabilities that can enhance the user experience. It is the first TV tuner board to feature hardware transrating and transcoding capable of reprocessing MPEG streams. The XCode II, performs format conversion, bit rate reduction and resolution reduction of multiple MPEG video streams at 8x-to-24x real time. This same technology allows users to reduce multiple feature-length videos to fit on a single DVD-R disk. Moreover, the process takes only minutes and is geared toward preserving the userís high quality viewing experience. Furthermore, the high-speed transrating and transcoding features allow users to copy MPEG streams while maintaining the integrity of the original video clip. An MPEG stream with an ultra-low bit rate and low-resolution can even be sent via the Internet or to a memory card. ViXSí dual tuner MPEG encoding technology enables PC users to simultaneously view and/or manage multiple streams of high quality analog or digital content. Additionally, ViXS Dual TV Tuner Board is built with security in mind and features encryption/decryption capabilities and support for DTCP over IP to protect video content from being viewed by, or pirated from, unauthorized individuals. The ViXS Dual TV Tuner Board Reference Design is immediately available and allows manufacturers to accelerate their time to market for multimedia PC products. The design ships with drivers for Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005, and it has already been integrated in multiple PC-based products to be announced later this year. For more information, visit http://www.vixs.com

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