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To: Yves B. who wrote (25914)	12/1/1997 2:59:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

Video Encoder ICs -- Chip targets real-time encoding for multimedia editing, presentation in consumer APPs -- Sony puts proprietary DSP core in MPEG-2 encoder Junko Yoshida ÿ 12/01/97 Electronic Engineering Times Page 88 Copyright 1997 CMP Publications Inc. ÿ San Jose, Calif. - Sony Semiconductor Co. of America has unveiled a real-time MPEG-2 video-encoder chip for the consumer-equipment market. The CXD1922Q addresses such medium- to low-cost MPEG-2 encoder applications as DVD authoring, multimedia presentation and high-quality editing. Based on a 0.4-micron CMOS process and loaded with 4.5 million transistors, the CXD1922Q consumes 1.2 W. Vishwanath Nayak, director of marketing for Sony Semiconductor's consumer audio/video/data division, said that the chip, selling for $600 in sample volumes, is "half the price" of competing offerings. It features what the company claims is "the widest horizontal motion search range in the industry." That feature is said to be key to high-quality encoding of rapidly moving images. The chip offers a search range of -288 to +297.5 horizontal pixels and -96 to +95.5 vertical pixels, at half-pixel accuracy. Getting the picture The CDX1922 supports MPEG-2 Main Profile (MP) @ Main Level (ML), as well as MPEG-2 Simple Profile (SP)@ ML, with image sizes up to 720 x 480 at 30 frames/second for NTSC applications and up to 720 x 576 at 25 frames/s for PAL. Full D1 resolution, single-pass encoding at 15 Mbits/s for Intra (I), Picture (P) and Bidirectional (B) frames and 25 Mbits/s for I frame is incorporated as well. The chip provides support for constant and variable bit rates and automatic 3:2 pulldown inversion when necessary. The part integrates a proprietary Sony DSP core that is optimized for audio and video processing and that is also used in Sony's Dolby Digital decoder and MPEG-2 chips. The DSP functions as a system controller, managing the data flow and setting encoding parameters. It is said to be capable of 33 DSP Mips. At Comdex, Sony showed off a half-sized PC card featuring its MPEG-2 encoder. The card integrates a PCI bridge chip, 1 x 16-Mbit SDRAM, CDX1922Q MPEG-2 encoding chip and video-out chip. The chip is designed to function with 1 x 16-Mbit SDRAM, but for higher-resolution encoding 32-Mbit SRAM is recommended. The chip is currently being manufactured in Japan using Sony's 0.4-micron CMOS technology. Volume production will start in the first quarter of 1998, by which time the price, in volume, could be substantially lowered in accordance with "what the market asks for," said Nayak. "Our goal is bringing it down to around $250." Sony, meanwhile, has already been working on its die shrink. The chip is expected to be manufactured on a 0.25-micron CMOS process next year. The CXD1922Q is already realized on a 13.7 mm x 12.4 mm chip. Call (800) 228-SONY or (408) 955-6572 www.sony.com/semi