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Protocom Technology Announces Industry's First Hard-Wired MPEG-4 ASP Video SOC Overcoming Low-Bit Rate, Low Power Constraints for Portable Devices
New Protocom Technology GoldenREEL(TM) PR818S Offers Industry's
Only MPEG-4 ASP Video CODEC for Highest Video Quality for Digital
Camcorders, IP Cameras and other Ultra-Small Form Factor Products
LAS VEGAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 6, 2005—
Protocom Technology Corp., an innovator in digital compression
semiconductor devices, today announced the industry's first
full-duplex, hard-wired system-on-a-chip (SOC) audio/video solution,
the GoldenREEL(TM) PR818S. The new PR818S overcomes the low-bit rate,
low power constraints of portable entertainment products such as
digital camcorders, handheld personal video recorders (PVRs) and
personal media players. The GoldenREEL PR818S CODEC and GoldenREEL(TM)
PR828 encoder devices provide consumer OEMs full-range motion and
higher resolution video for next-generation products. Both the PR818S
and PR828 are fabricated in .13 micron process technology and support
the MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) standard at up to NTSC/PAL
(D1) resolutions.
"MPEG-2 compression by definition has limitations in video quality
and frame-rates in portable products that result in a generally poor
video experience for the user," said Michelle Abraham, senior analyst
at InStat/MDR. "The growing expectation for quality digital video
display within cell phones, personal media players and other mobile
products will benefit from the introduction of Protocom's hard-wired
implementation of MPEG-4 ASP video compression solution. The Protocom
solution will help meet the users' insatiable desire for 'ultra'-small
form factor products. This will open the door to a host of new
video-centric consumer products."
Protocom's GoldenREEL PR818S is optimized and designed to serve
market applications requiring real-time compression, while ensuring
exceptional video quality. The GoldenREEL PR818S is the industry's
first single-chip full-duplex, hard-wired MPEG-4 silicon CODEC with
Advanced Simple Profile (ASP). The PR818S supports full frame rates of
30 frames-per-second with up to D1 resolution, ADPCM audio and full
transcoding capabilities to and from MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 (as well as
other transcoding options). Protocom's MPEG-4 ASP solution is a
significant advancement over current MPEG-4 Simple Profile (SP)
solutions now on the market. The integrated ARM922T(TM) core within
the PR818S eliminates the need for a system host processor and
provides system flexibility via firmware supporting various audio
formats such as MP3, AAC and WMA.
In addition to the PR818S CODEC, which is designed for use in
DVRs, PVRs and Video/Voice over IP (V2oIP), Protocom is announcing the
GoldenREEL PR828 encoder-only device. The PR828 is designed for
applications such as security/wireless and IP cameras. The PR828
provides a hard-wired encoder that is ideal for products where PC/host
decoding is preferred.
"Protocom's focus and proven talent in the area of complex digital
media compression has put us on the forefront of introducing Quality
Motion Video (QMV) to wireless, communications and other digital
entertainment markets," said Isaac van Kempen, vice president of
marketing at Protocom Technology. "Tier-one OEMs must meet aggressive
performance and quality standards to be a dominant market player. We
believe the GoldenREEL PR818S and PR828 will enable Protocom's
customer OEMs to bring to market some of the most advanced and
enriched video-capable products the consumer has yet to experience."
Pricing and Availability
The Protocom GoldenREEL PR818S and PR828 are both immediately
available. The Protocom GoldenREEL PR818S full CODEC is priced at $22
for quantities of 100,000 and the Protocom GoldenREEL PR828 encoder is
priced at $19 in quantities of 100,000. Protocom also offers a
universal engineering development platform, EMERGE(TM), that is based
on the GoldenREEL PR818S and provides the OEM developer significant
savings in time-to-market and product creation.
About Protocom Technology
Protocom Technology is an innovator in digital compression
semiconductor devices. The company offers the industry's only
full-duplex, hard-wired MPEG-4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile)
system-on-a-chip solution for the highest quality video for portable
devices. Protocom's GoldenREEL(TM) family of silicon CODECs optimizes
full-range Quality Motion Video, while overcoming the low-bit rate and
low power constraints required by such ultra-small-form-factor
products as digital camcorders, IP cameras, handheld personal video
recorders (PVRs) and personal media players. The product also has
applications in the consumer electronics and the industrial
security/surveillance markets. The company is currently developing
hard-wired products that include SMPTE-VC1 (WMV9) and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
compression technologies.
Protocom is located in Cupertino, Calif. For further information
please visit www.protocomtech.com or call 408-343-0976.
Contact:
Strategic Communications, Inc.
Jody Privette Flynn, 415-328-4700
jflynn@strategiccom.biz
Deborah Paquin, 916-984-1921 or
916-712-1836 (Cell phone at CES)
dpaquin@strategiccom.biz
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