I don't recall this one....
C - CUBE 'S SINGLE-CHIP ENCODER MAY SPARK MASSIVE COST SAVINGS
ÿ
08/25/97
Multichannel News
Page 39
COPYRIGHT 1997 Diversified Publishing Group Copyright 1997 Information Access Company. All rights reserved.
ÿ
LESLIE ELLIS
Following a three-year track of silicon integration, C - Cube Microsystems Inc. this week will unveil a single chip that encodes MPEG-2 video signals.
The move has huge implications for digital-video encoders - long a pricey item for cable, broadcast and satellite operators.
The single-chip encoder, based on C - Cube 's new 'DVx' platform, also paves the way for a one-chip 'codec' (encoder/decoder) for consumer electronics and set-top boxes.
'Even though a chip is a chip, the implications of this are astronomical,' said Christie Cadwell, senior product-marketing manager for the codec.
That's because a one-chip codec could trigger the kind of cost savings that make digital video-permeated consumer devices like recordable DVDs (digital video disks), digital VCRs and camcorders affordable, she said.
'Broadcast video worldwide is rapidly migrating to digital, as the promise of more channels and higher-quality video is realized,' explained Alex Daly, vice president of marketing for C - Cube .
Two flavors of single-chip encoders, dubbed DVxpert 5110 and 6210, are the first in the overall DVx family. Three companies have already said that they will package the chip into their encoding line - Vela Research Inc., OptiVision Corp. and Comsat Inc. - said Cadwell.
The 5110 is an MPEG-2 main-level, main-profile encoder that supports multichannel broadcasts, adaptive field/frame encoding at compress rates of up to 15 megabits per second and statistical multiplexing.
The two-chip 6210 encoder compresses at MPEG-2 main level, main profile for general broadcast applications, or MPEG-2 main level at the 4:2:2 profile for video-distribution applications. It handles video streams from 6 mbps to 50 mbps, and it protects against generation-loss problems that can occur when video is encoded and decoded several times.
'The costs for operators to receive analog signals and to translate them into digital are incredibly high - it's way up there,' said Wendell Bailey, vice president of science and technology for the National Cable Television Association. 'At current prices, [digital-video encoding] is not the kind of thing that you do in a head-end, unless you have 100,000 subscribers or more.'
C - Cube executives put the cost of the 5110 chip at $1,500, and that of the 6210, designed for professional-studio applications, at $2,500.
'If it turns out that the price of MPEG-2 encoding becomes that affordable, then more operators could decide whether or not they could do their own encoding,' rather than buying prepackaged, encoded packages from third-party providers, Bailey said.
A codec for next-generation digital set-top boxes and consumer electronics will follow over the next two years, Cadwell said.
C - Cube is already pitching a conceptual combination box to MSOs that replaces current, analog VCRs while decoding incoming, cable-delivered MPEG-2 streams.
That way, the cost of MPEG-2 decoding and associated memory could be removed from the set-top's bill of materials, leaving demodulation, access control and encryption as the core remaining set-top elements, Cadwell said.
Or, the codec could be used in next-generation digital set-tops for two-way video - useful for video-conferencing applications. When prices drop to 'sub-$50' over the next two years, that kind of use may become more palatable, said Cadwell.
One MSO engineer who is familiar with C - Cube 's efforts said the idea has merit.
'The potential cost savings are significant, and it's the first step in having a set-top that could handle outbound video,' said Steve Dukes, vice president of engineering for Tele-Communications Inc.'s TCI Technology Ventures Inc.
But watch for the encoding side of the DVx, based on C - Cube 's 'PerfectView' compression algorithm, to surface first in broadcast and uplink sites, executives said.
'Within '97, the primary uses of MPEG-2 are digital TV [encoding] and digital-media development, like DVD authoring. Starting next year, we see the market expanding at the professional end, into post-production,' Cadwell said.
Then, in 1999, C - Cube 's product map extends into persona] computer video, set-top boxes, recordable DVDs and digital VCRs.
'By the time this gets into the set-top box, in 1999 or 2000, it will have gone through one revision, and it will be priced in the range of today's decoders,' said Cadwell. Plus, said Bob Safarri, senior marketing manager for C - Cube 's encoder group, the chip size will shrink from 0.35 microns to 0.18 microns, 'with an intermediate step at 0.25 microns.' |
