Behind every digital flat panel video screen, inside every set-top box, and driving the content in every personal media player on display at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show are the underlying digital and mixed-signal ICs that turn the entertainment concepts into reality. At this year’s show many companies unveiled their latest silicon offerings that will let video panels display crisper, blur-free images, run portable systems longer while delivering high-quality audio and video, communicate better with higher-speed wireless and wired interfaces, and provide more feature-rich set-top boxes and media gateways.
To compensate for some shortcomings in the response time of large liquid-crystal panels used in HDTV systems, designers at companies like Genesis Microchip and Micronas have developed LCD timing controllers, motion-compensation schemes, and still other chips to improve the quality of the display. The gm7746 LCD timing controller from Genesis, for example, supports panels of any resolution including WUXGA (wide ultra XGA) and full high definition, with any combination of 6-, 8-, or 10-bit inputs or outputs with 10-bit processing end-to-end (Fig. 1).
The chip augments the LCD panel’s performance via its dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE) capability, as well as automatic frame-rate conversion (FRC) and programmability for custom applications. To further enhance the image, 2- and 3-frame overdrive with dual 17-by-17 look-up tables and full-pixel-depth frame buffering deliver the best possible temporal performance from any LCD panel. The DCE feature works with an external programmable voltage reference generator to boost the readability of dark scenes and enhance color saturation. It does this by dynamically controlling the panel’s gamma curve based on current image content. The automatic FRC enables continued operation in television applications when PC inputs exceed the panel’s native resolution.
Other notable Genesis chip releases from the show include a device called the Cortez Plus (FLI8548), a new member of the company’s Phoenix family, the gm5766, and a new controller in the Oak family, the FLI5962. The Cortez Plus incorporates the Faroudja DCDi (directional correlation deinterlacing) Cinema video processing capabilities, a worldwide 3D comb filter, and an HDMI receiver. (Another version of the chip, the FLI8538 comes without the HDMI receiver.) The Cortez Plus can be used as part of a digital TV solution that delivers exceptional video processing thanks to the Faroudja DCDi algorithms that eliminate the jagginess that conventional upconverters introduce to diagonal edges in video. The algorithms identify all the moving edges in a scene and adjust the angles of interpolation at each pixel so that the interpolation always follows the edge instead of crossing it, eliminating the staircasing or jagged-edge artifacts. Also included on the chip is the company’s active color management technology (ACM-3D), which provides color and luminance control over programmable regions.
The latest Phoenix chip takes aim at low-cost mainstream LCD monitors and includes the ACM-3D color management technology with true six-axis color controls, as well as support for the WSXGA (1680 by 1050 pixel) and UXGA (1600 by 1200 pixel) high-resolution monitors. The latest offering also features a triple a-d converter that runs at clock speeds of up to 205 MHz, a DVI (digital video interface) receiver with HDCP support and an 8-bit ITU656 video input port. This chip will allow monitor manufacturers to reduce their overall bill of materials cost as well as offer performance differentiation thanks to the advanced color control technologies.
Capable of supporting both monitors and mid-range LCD TVs, the Oak FLI5962 controller combines support for WUXGA (1920 by 1200 pixel) resolution with the company’s DCDi video processing, active color management (ACM-3D), and adaptive contrast and control (ACC) algorithms. This enables the chip to deliver vibrant and lifelike images on TVs and multifunction monitors while lowering the overall bill of materials.
At the Micronas booth, the semiconductor company demonstrated a new motion compensation chip that eliminates the unpleasant "judder" that appears when film source material, either from broadcast or a playback device, is viewed on a HDTV system.
Without compensation, playing film-based video source material on LCD panels exhibits "judder" (a type of flickering instability of the image). The judder comes from the fact that movies are filmed at 24 frames/s (fps), while video is displayed at 60 Hz on today’s NTSC and ATSC televisions. To boost the frame rate, most HDTV systems just repeat frames to display the video at 60 Hz. Object movement or camera panning causes noticeable judder, and Real Motion compensation technology fills in additional frames that represent the actual motion sequence. This lets the chip deliver a much more enjoyable viewing experience, with resolutions of up to 1920 by 1080 pixels.
The show was also an opportunity for Micronas to show the benefits of its recent acquisition of WISchip. A multi-format IPTV device, the DeCypher 8100 performs real-time streaming media decoding. A system reference design can decode high- and standard-definition video formats, including H.264 (AVC/MPEG-4 part 10), VC-1/WMV9, and MPEG-4/-2/-1, and also supports audio decoding for Dolby Digital, WMA, WMA Pro, AAC, and MPEG audio layers I, II, and III (MP3). The reference design also includes comprehensive connectivity, from wired and wireless networking to analog and digital video and audio outputs, as well as other I/O capabilities. Network I/O includes two USB 2.0 ports, an RJ-45 10/100 wired Ethernet port, and 802.11a/b+g/n wireless Ethernet via the onboard mini-PCI connector.
Security and digital rights management for current and emerging standards are provided through a dedicated security processor and hardware accelerator for cryptographic functions. Working with its software partners, Micronas will offer a flexible, robust software ecosystem that supports both Linux and Windows CE operating systems, various middleware stacks, wired and wireless network protocols, application-level solutions, and a wide variety of digital rights management and access control schemes. The platform is also DLNA compliant, and supports Microsoft UPnP and Apple Rendezvous for zero-configuration network support.
Micronas also presented the company’s DRX3942H, a digital terrestrial ATSC and digital cable-ready QAM receiver chip, the APB7202A nGene, a dual-channel PCI Express multimedia controller, and MSP-M and MAP-M audio processors. The DRX3942H demodulates standard- and high-definition signals and works in conjunction with an OpenCable compliant QAM demodulator. Advanced filtering schemes integrated on the chip recombine some received ghost energy with the main signal, resulting in superior ATSC receiver performance. Significant improvements can be observed using strong and/or dynamic echoes in urban areas, with indoor antennas, and with the so-called "bobbling effect" caused by swaying antennas and other structures.
The APB7202A includes dual-channel video/audio and transport stream capture capabilities and audio output functions. It combines flexible buffer management with the benefits of PCI Express point-to-point protocol to become a key building block for next-generation PC-based personal video recording devices. The MSP-M audio processor supports TVs that receive analog and digital broadcast signals and performs all baseband processing and demodulates/decodes all analog TV audio standards. The MAP-M is optimized for TVs that receive only digital broadcast signals.
The challenge of moving digital video content is taking shape in many forms. One Israeli company, Amimon Ltd., is developing a wireless high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) solution that will eliminate the need for cables to connect the large flat-panel TVs to a video source. The wireless link employs a proprietary wireless video modem technology that jointly optimizes the modulation and video processing to deliver robust video data under varying channel conditions. Operating in the 5 GHz unlicensed band, the link will transfer uncompressed HDTV digital video streams at about 1.5 Gbits/s. The company expects to have silicon ready for sampling in early 2007.
Another vendor, Silicon Image, has developed the industry’s first HDMI transmitter chip designed specifically for the mobile market (Fig. 2). Housed in an 84-ball 6- by 6-mm chip-scale package, the Sil 9020 will allow manufacturers of camcorders and digital cameras to include an HDMI transmit port, enabling consumers to connect the camcorders and cameras directly to an HDMI capable HDTV. The company also provides the Sil 9023 HDMI receiver, which has dual HDMI inputs and full 1080p resolution. Such a chip allows TV manufacturers to cost-effectively add multiple HDMI inputs to their systems. Silicon Image also presented the Sil 8020 video processor, which includes dual video processing paths to enable picture-in-picture and picture-over-picture modes, as well as provide digital audio playback, photo display, and video recording for mass-market HDTVs.
Settop boxes and digital video recording systems are also leveraging new silicon, and LSI Logic and Marvell Semiconductors unveiled new processors that simplify design and lower bill of materials cost. At the LSI Logic booth, the company showed DVD HDTV recorder designs that employ its DoMiNo DMN8633/8683 highly-integrated HDTV recorder processor chips. These chips address the FCC digital tuner mandate by making peripheral TV equipment such as VCRs and DVD recorders to be ATSC-compliant at an affordable cost.
The DMN8633/83 can simultaneously decode and display HDTV content while recording content onto DVDs (Fig. 3). The ‘8683 can time-shift HD content by storing the content on a hard disk drive. Both chips support multiple audio and video encoding and decoding formats, as well as industry-leading DVD recorder features such as DVFX video pre- and post-processing technologies (for the highest-quality video), Direct Digital Dub technology (to simplify the transfer of personal digital content from a camcorder to DVD over FireWire), YesDVD intelligent software (to handle the automatic editing and conversion of home video easy), and fully-integrated support for USB digital cameras and flash memory cards.
Also targeting the settop box (STB) and DVR markets, STMicroelectronics showed its current STi71XX processor family for satellite and cable STBs, as well as Internet protocol STBs, and DVD-HD and combo systems. The chips incorporate the latest multi-standard decoding circuitry and codec technologies for DVD audio and security encryption, so the processor can handle both VC1 (Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 series codec) and the H.264/AVC (advanced video codec), which is also known as MPEG-4, part 10. The STB7100 can simultaneously decode multiple HD streams and output the resultant video to two television sets, or display picture-in-picture on one TV. With a CPU core that is a high-performance 300 MHz ST40, STMicro's 32-bit RISC processor is based on the SuperH architecture and widely used in many digital consumer applications. In large volumes, the STB7100 sells for $29 apiece.
STMicroelectronics also previewed its next-generation STB/DVR platform, the STi7200 series, which can handle two channels of HD video decoding. The chips, which will be sampling in mid 2006, are based on the company’s very-long-instruction-word ST231 and ST40 CPU cores and are implemented on a 65 nm process. Able to support the high-density Blu-Ray optical storage format, the chips will allow systems to handle dual concurrent media streams and work with the latest generation of digital rights management. Complementing the processors is the company’s STB0899 demodulator chip.
Empowering appliances such as a media vault (that can store and manage content for distribution around a home), the Orion processor family unveiled by Marvell Semiconductor Inc. can deliver guaranteed, home-wide Quality of Service (QoS) and true, uninterrupted multi-streaming performance. The Orion processors are highly integrated system-on-chip solutions that run at clock speeds of up to 500 MHz and include PCI, serial ATA storage interfaces, and network interfaces. Using these chips, designers can readily implement media-center boxes or network-attached storage systems that can deliver multiple simultaneous video streams.
New chips for portable media players were also in abundance at the show, with companies like Analog Devices, Magnum Semiconductor, MediaWorks, PortalPlayer, SigmaTel, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments demonstrating DSP and multi-core solutions for audio and video media players.
The Blackfin DSP chip from Analog Devices made its appearance in a multitude of media applications, including Roku Laboratories SoundBridge Internet Radio, digital radio systems from Sonarics, STB systems from Transvideo, portable media player, mobile TV systems, wireless IP telephones, wireless network access points, and many other products.
In addition to entertainment products the Blackfin DSP chip has found a home in diverse products such as the BioLock from Sequiam Corp. Using fingerprint analysis algorithms run on the Blackfin DSP chip, the company developed a deadbolt lock for residential and commercial applications. The lock can hold up to 51 fingerprint patterns, and uses a three-step enrollment procedure to ensure secure entry of the patterns.
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