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11 June 1996

Hitachi, Ltd. is releasing the HD814210F Single-chip MPEG2(*1) Video and Audio Decoder with on-chip synchronization. Sample shipment will begin in June 1996 in Japan.

The HD814210F incorporates the MPEG2 decoder core technology from CompCore Multimedia, Inc. It is fabricated in a 0.5-micron three Al layer CMOS process and requires only 16 Mbits of external SDRAM to decompress audio and video for either NTSC or PAL video format.

The multimedia market is expected to exhibit explosive growth in the near future. Technologies for data compression and decompression are becoming increasingly important for higher- speed data transfer, more efficient audio and video communication and to increase the efficiency of data storage media. Of these, MPEG2 technology is attracting attention as a key technology for digital CATV, DVD systems and digital satellite broadcasting (such as DVB and DSS(*2)). The broadcast satellite business is expected to grow rapidly in the near future.

The video and audio decompression systems used in set top boxes, the reception terminal for digital satellite broadcast and digital CATV, have been mainly implemented using two separate decoder chips: one for the video and one for audio channels plus with four 4-Mb DRAMs chips. However, there is now strong demand for cost reductions provided by reducing the number of system components to support further growth in this area.

To respond to these needs Hitachi has licensed new MPEG2 decoder core technology, which provides a low cost solution, from CompCore Multimedia, Inc. in the United States and is now releasing a single-chip MPEG2 video/audio decoder with small chip size. This product is fabricated in a 0.5-micron three Al layer CMOS process, and implements MPEG2 video data decompression and audio data decompression in a single chip. Since this product supports interfacing with 16-Mb SDRAM, a set top box MPEG2 video/audio decoder system can be constructed with this decoder and just one external 16-bit data path 16-Mb SDRAM. Additional external memory is not required for OSD function(*3) even in PAL video format. This allows the six chips previously required (two decoders, one for audio and one for video, plus four 4-Mb DRAMs) to be reduced to only two chips, the HD814210F and one 16-Mb SDRAM. This allows both the parts count and the system cost to be reduced.

Furthermore, this product provides an improved OSD function that displays characters and text, and allows diverse screen displays to be implemented easily. Additionally, since this product includes an audio/video synchronization circuit, the audio/video synchronization control previously handled by the external CPU is no longer required, reducing the processing load on that CPU.

The HD814210F is provided in a 160-pin QFP package that allows high- density surface mounting.

To provide a total solution for set top box systems, we at Hitachi, Ltd. are preparing a transport stream demultiplexer(*4) system that uses the Hitachi SuperH RISC engine family products (SH-2 and SH-3), which are 32-bit RISC microcomputers. The combination of the HD814210F with this system will allow the construction of even more compact set top boxes.

[About CompCore Multimedia, Inc. ]

CompCore Multimedia, Inc. is the video and audio technology provider for MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) products. Founded in 1993, CompCore is a privately-held California corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California. As one of its primary businesses, CompCore offers MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 audio and video hardware designs to enable its OEM customers to manufacture and ship the MPEG products in the industry.

In addition, CompCore also provides its OEM customers with a software version of its MPEG-1 technology called "SoftPEG".

Note:

*1: MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group, Phase 2): An international standard for motion picture compression and decompression technology. It currently supports image quality equivalent to that of current television broadcasts.

*2: DVB (digital video broadcasting) DSS (direct satellite system): Digital satellite systems used in Europe (DVB) and the United States (DSS).

*3: OSD (on-screen display) function: Function for displaying characters and text on a moving image being displayed.

*4: Transport stream demultiplexer: The transport stream is a compressed data format in MPEG2 systems. This is a function that demultiplexes this compressed data.

[Application Product Examples]

- Set top boxes for digital satellite broadcast reception
- Set top boxes for digital CATV
- Add-on cards for multimedia personal computers

[Pricing in Japan]*

Product Sample price (Yen)
HD814210F @ 5,000 in quantities of 100
* For reference only.