For more information, contact FOCUS Enhancements, 978 988 5888, www.focusinfo.com or William Schillhammer, billhammer@FOCUSinfo.com or Steve Sheldon, ssheldon@FOCUSinfo.com.
National Semiconductor Collaborates With FOCUS To Bring High Quality TV Compatibility To The Internet
FOCUS Enhancements, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCSE) announced today that it is working with National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM), a leading enabler of Internet appliance platforms, to integrate the FOCUS FS450ô ""i-Net TV"" video conversion chip with National's Geodeô Information Appliance reference designs. In a collaborative effort with National Semiconductor, FOCUS has developed the unique feature set of the FS450 i-Net TV chip to bring high quality digital video conversion to the Geode family and the CS5530 Geode I/O Companion for information appliances and interactive Internet set-top boxes that will use televisions as a display. Specific features of the FS450 i-Net TV chip, including advanced 2D flicker filtering and studio quality video, will contribute to National's efforts to optimize the Internet viewing experience of the rapidly developing information appliances market. The FS450 i-Net TV chip, with a custom National Geode interface, will be sampling in January 2000 and shipping in Q2, 2000. With recent efforts by National Semiconductor and Microsoft Corporation to bring the Internet to 3.5 million Chinese homes through co-development of TV set-top box solutions, the need for Asian character readability is critical. Commenting on this need, Thomas Massie, President and CEO of FOCUS said, ""we have addressed the requirements of the interactive set-top box market to provide a compelling Internet experience and high quality digital video conversion, especially in Asia where National and Microsoft are currently playing. The FS450's broadcast quality video encoder and proprietary 2D flicker filtering enhances text readability while eliminating flicker from the image, improving the TV viewing experience - not only in Asia, but for the entire mainstream Internet appliance and TV set-top box market."" The FS450 i-Net TV chip has features never before available in a low-cost digital video ASIC, using patented variable scaling to exactly fit PC or web images to any TV screen. Additionally, it includes built-in interfaces that allow standard TV broadcasts or a DVD movie to be inexpensively and digitally switched through the chip for very high video quality. Unlike other PC-to-TV solutions that support only VGA or SVGA, the FS450 is the only low-cost video encoder that can support XGA, an important resolution to display full Internet web pages. In addition to 2D flicker filtering, the chip also provides underscaling, compression, and video quality at levels exceeding all other competitive products. ""According to IDC, the emerging information appliance market is projected to expand tremendously over the next five years, reaching a worldwide shipment level of approximately 65 million units in 2003,"" said Bill Schillhammer, Vice President of OEM Sales at FOCUS. ""We believe National Semiconductor is poised to take advantage of this potential growth through their low-cost, advanced Internet appliance CPUs such as the Geode family of processors. Because market demand for Internet access has moved beyond the PC to include a variety of optimized and dedicated devices such as TV set-top boxes, using a chip like the i-Net TV National can supply the best TV quality possible for devices currently being developed around the Geode processor."" FOCUS Enhancements, Inc. is an industry leader in the development and marketing of advanced, proprietary video conversion ASICs for the rapidly converging, multi-billion dollar Internet, computer, and television industries. The Company's technology, which is sold globally through Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and resellers, merges computer-generated graphics and television displays for Internet viewing, presentations, training, education, video teleconferencing, and home gaming markets. In addition, the Company is developing a family of products that will enable the current installed base of televisions, VCRs, and camcorders to remain functional in upcoming HDTV environments.