Micronas Launches New Chip Combo To Enable Cost-Effective Advanced Digital Photo Playback on TV (0314)
Creates Highest Quality Digital Imaging for Living Room Viewing
Freiburg, Germany -July 8, 2003 - Micronas, a leading supplier of innovative application-specific IC system solutions for consumer electronics, multimedia and automotive electronics, introduces on occasion of IFA 2003 in Berlin a new combination of controllers that will enable TV manufacturers to cost-effectively integrate memory card based features like digital photo playing into TV sets.
The new PUC 3030A 32-bit controller and SDA 6001 ("M2") graphic processor combination is launched at a time when sales figures of digital cameras are reaching mass market volumes. TV markets' 100 Hz, progressive scan and flat-panel TVs on the other hand are best suited to display digitally taken photos due to flickerfreeness and enhanced picture resolution. With card-reading capability integrated into TVsets now, consumers can enjoy two benefits: Displaying photos in a living room environment at a very high quality level with simple user interfacing.
"Since memory card data is processed via the PUC controller and the M2 processor directly towards the display our combo offers great image quality for digital photo playback on analog TVs," said Ingo Hecht, product marketing manager at Micronas.
"For instance, when using a PC, DVD player or digital camera to transfer data to a TV set, image quality tends to be considerably impaired. Micronas' PUC-M2 combination suffers from no image quality degradation and removes the cost associated with external devices," added Hecht. Once a memory card has been inserted into the card reader slot of a TV set, the Micronas PUC 3030A decodes the JPEG files. The data is then passed to the M2 chip, which controls the user interface and the graphical presentation.
The Micronas system is able to quickly process and display JPEG pictures of all sizes. Decoding of files in MP3, WMA and AAC formats is possible as well, which allows user to play digitally downloaded music on its high-quality TV system in a very simple manner. The Micronas system is able to cooperate with all kinds of memory card systems.
To date, Micronas has already sold more than 3 million M2 graphic processors. With the M2 deployed in a majority of mid-range and high-end TVs, manufacturers simply need to add a card reader and the PUC 3030A controller to an existing chassis architecture to integrate digital still picture and audio decoding functionality. The PUC 3030A also provides USB connectivity enabling easy TV software and parameter updates.
In cooperation with Munich-based software design house Tara Systems, Micronas offers the PUC as a fully programmed controller and provides tools for the M2, enabling TV system manufacturers to easily create a specific user interface.
In a standard configuration three modes may be applied: A preview mode displays several images in small format. With the remote control, the user can then select one image as a full image. The slide show mode displays images one after the other.
A PUC-M2 reference platform for evaluation and easy and quick integration is available at Micronas now. A tailor-made user interface according to TV manufacturers' specifications may be provided upon request. Micronas PUC and M2 are available in plastic QFP-100 and QFP-128 packages respectively. With M2 being already implemented as the main controller in a TV, adding the PUC 3030A for feature upgrade is below US$ 9 for high volumes.
About Tara Systems
Tara Systems, based in Munich, was incorporated 1990 with the vision to develop innovative concepts, software and tools for consumer electronic (CE) devices. Tara Systems is specialized in application development, graphical user interfaces, data transmission in TV environments and multimedia applications used in TV sets, Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), Set Top Boxes and related devices. Further information is available at www.tara-systems.de .