Cirrus chip enables universal DVD players
By Anthony Cataldo
EE Times
(05/18/99, 3:57 p.m. EDT)
TOKYO — Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers plan to unveil "universal" DVD players with new audio features as a way to refresh their product lines and distinguish them from cheaper video players from other Asian competitors, according to officials at Cirrus Logic Inc., which has developed an audio decompression engine that targets the new class of players.
Several Japanese companies are in the process of incorporating DVD-Audio and other proprietary sound-enhancing algorithms and compression schemes into new players in the hope that early adopters will snap them up. Current DVD players do not support DVD-Audio, the hardware specification for which was not finalized by the DVD Forum until last February.
With the newer DVD players, Japanese consumer electronics OEMs will try to get a leg up on regional competitors selling Video CD players and shore up declining DVD prices, which have fallen as low as $250 in Japan. Officials from Cirrus Logic, one of the leading vendors of audio codecs, said they expect the first DVD players with the new features to hit store shelves by year's end.
"Many DVD makers gave up the low-end in the Far East because China, Taiwan and Korea are developing lower-priced players, like Video CD. So Japanese companies are planning to meet the higher end of the market," said Hidehiko Kondo, sales and marketing manager for Cirrus Logic K.K. (Tokyo).
Kondo said OEMs are looking to use Dolby AC-3, MPEG-2 and DTS DVD-Audio decompression standards in the new players. In addition, several vendors are also considering adding support for other sound-enhancing features such as High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD), a proprietary algorithm developed by Pacific Microsonics Inc. (Berkeley, Calif.) that increases the dynamic range of CDs for clearer fidelity.
It is unlikely, however, that the first wave of universal DVD players will include Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) audio since the standard is relatively new and there is still little software support, Kondo said.
Cirrus hopes to snatch a piece of the business for these new DVD systems by fielding its latest CS49300 device, which can decode PCM, MLP, AC-3, DTS and MPEG audio. And because the device is programmable, OEMs can include features such as HDCD, Dolby Virtual, surround field processing, bass/treble controls, bass boost and speaker delays. The chip is priced at $15 in 10,000-unit quantities. Samples are available now, and production is expected to begin in the third quarter.
When used in a universal DVD player, the chip receives data from a DVD drive control device and outputs to a set of stereo D/A converters. The chip also has a separate PCM/AC-3 output, and a can draw code from an external ROM containing code for standards such as MLP and HDCD.
The 0.24-micron device employs the same architecture as an earlier implementation for AVR systems. The architecture is made up of two DSPs, RAM data memory, ROM and RAM program memory and a phased-locked loop.
The 30-square-millimeter device comes in a 44-pin package. Crystal Semiconductor, Cirrus' wholly-owned subsidiary in Austin, Texas, will provide the decompression software.
Cirrus also plans to unveil two additional D/A converters and one new codec later this year aimed at DVD players. In the coming months, Cirrus will ship samples of two 24-bit D/As from its CS439X family which will target both mid-range and high-end systems. The mid-range device, which will be available in sample quantities in July, is capable of 196-kHz sampling frequency and has a dynamic range of 107 dB. Scheduled to be available in sample quantities in August, the high-performance version is a multi-bit architecture that has a sampling frequency of 196 kHz and a 120-dB dynamic range. Cirrus also plans to later include support for Super Audio CD, an extension to CD audio promulgated by Philips and Sony, in its high-end chip, said Terry Ritchie, vice president of consumer products for Cirrus Logic's Crystal division.
On the codec front, Cirrus will begin sampling by July its CS422X, a 24-bit codec that features 96-kHz sampling, stereo A/D, 6-channel D/A and volume control. All of Cirrus' planned D/A converters and codecs will be available in volume quantities three months after sampling begins, according to the company.
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