Sigma Designs to Work on Full-Featured Blu-ray Player with Pioneer; New Player Utilizes Sigma's Industry-Leading SMP8630 Family of Media Processors
MILPITAS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 12, 2005—
Sigma Designs (Nasdaq:SIGM) today announced it will work
with Pioneer Corporation (NYSE:PIO) on the joint development of a
full-featured Blu-ray DVD player using Sigma Designs' SMP8630 family
of media processors.
"Pioneer intends to be the first company to offer a high-quality,
Blu-ray DVD player that contains all the key features expected from a
consumer product under our brand name," said Russ Johnston, senior
vice president of marketing and product planning for the home
entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "Sigma's
SMP8630 family of chipsets provides a virtual system-on-chip solution
for the hardware portion, enabling us to focus on software development
and value-added features that extend beyond basic operation."
Blu-ray is the leading standard in the market for next-generation,
high-definition optical players, based on blue laser disc technology.
Blu-ray allows consumers to view movies and other programs in high
definition. In addition, Blu-ray Discs allow consumers to record HD
programming from a cable, satellite or TV antenna. A Blu-ray Disc
computer drive enables consumers to store up to 50 gigabytes at a time
to back up data, photos, portable music files and home videos.
"Collaborating with Pioneer on an industry-first product was a
natural relationship for Sigma," said Ken Lowe, vice president of
strategic marketing, Sigma Designs. "Sigma is dedicated to creating
the leading chipset for next-generation, high-definition optical
players and we are excited to be working with such a respected
consumer electronics company."
Availability
Pioneer plans to introduce the new Blu-ray DVD player in the first
half of 2006.
About Sigma's SMP8634 Media Processor
Sigma's SMP8634 media processor integrates a complete complement
of next-generation capabilities for a single-chip system-on-chip (SOC)
solution with powerful multimedia processing, robust content security
system, and a full complement of peripherals. Its advanced decoder
engines support video decoding of H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), Windows
Media(R) Video 9 (Microsoft's implementation of VC-1, the proposed
SMPTE standard), MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (part 2) with multiple streams, up
to the equivalent of two high-definition video streams.
High-performance graphics acceleration, multistandard audio decoding,
advanced display processing capabilities, and HDMI/HDCP output round
out its multimedia core. Powerful content security is ensured through
a dedicated secure processor, flash memory, and a range of digital
rights management (DRM) engines for high-speed payload decryption. The
SMP8634's 300-MIPS host CPU, 3.2 GB/second unified memory controller,
Ethernet 10/100 controller, dual USB 2.0 controller, and IDE
controller provide for a single-chip solution for most set-top boxes
and consumer players.
About Blu-ray
Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a
next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray
Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer
electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including
Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer,
Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was
developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of
high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data.
A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can hold up to 25GB, which can be used to
record over 2 hours of HDTV or more than 13 hours of
standard-definition TV. There are also dual-layer versions of the
discs that can hold up to 50GB.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain forward-looking statements,
including statements about the projected timing and extent of customer
shipments as well as the expected use of Sigma's MPEG decoder
products. Actual results could vary from those projected in the
forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including
worldwide economic conditions, changes in the customer's ability or
desire to complete the roll-out, consumer reaction to the new products
and services being offered, the ability of Sigma to deliver sufficient
quantity and quality of MPEG decoder chips, prices for the Sigma
chips, alternative offerings by competitors, and the ability of the
parties to work together successfully to achieve the rollout.
About Pioneer
Pioneer Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the
leading manufacturers of consumer and business-use electronics
products such as audio, video and car electronics on a global scale.
Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol
PIO), Euronext Amsterdam, Tokyo Stock Exchange, and Osaka Securities
Exchange.
About Sigma Designs, Inc.
Sigma Designs (Nasdaq:SIGM) specializes in silicon-based MPEG
decoding for streaming video, progressive DVD playback, and advanced
digital set-top boxes. The company's award-winning REALmagic(R) Video
Streaming Technology is used in both commercial and consumer
applications providing highly integrated solutions for high-quality
decoding of MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Headquartered in Milpitas,
Calif., the company also has sales offices in China, Europe, Hong
Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, please visit the
company's web site at www.sigmadesigns.com/.
REALmagic and Sigma Designs are registered trademarks of Sigma
Designs. All other products and companies referred to herein are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Contact:
Sigma Designs, Inc.
Ken Lowe, 408-957-9850
Email Contact
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