Sigma Announces Next Generation Decoder with Windows Media Video 9; Apex and KiSS Technology among the First to Support WMV9 Based DVD Players

Business Wire, Jan 7, 2004

"Apex is a company rocketing ahead in the market based on providing consumers with exciting consumer electronic products, like DVD players," said Stephen Brothers, president, Apex Digital, Inc. "In continuing our drive towards excellence and maintaining our leadership in the electronics arena, we recognize that selecting a solution like Sigma's EM8620L is a natural necessity. Our customers depend on us to provide leading-edge products with solid reliability and performance. Our new DVD player delivers steady reliability and precise performance."

KiSS Technology, a globally leading Scandinavian manufacturer of DVD products will launch three new products at CES. These include the DVD player DP-600, DVD recorder DP-678, and a streaming device SB-020, all using the EM8620L media processor from Sigma Designs. The DVD player, DP-600 offers WMV9, progressive scan, MPEG-4, MP3 playback, advanced user interface and a photo album feature. The player is already equipped with an Ethernet 10/100 port and wireless connection. The DVD recorder, DP-678, includes a standard DVD drive, 80 GB or 120GB hard disc and integrated TV tuner. The tuner enables the consumer to easily record programs, download files from the PC to the DVD player or TV, and the Ethernet and wireless capabilities allow consumers to watch movies, view photographs, and listen to music and radio via the Internet. The SB-020 streaming device provides a wireless network connection, eliminating the need to lay wires in the home to transfer material from the PC to the streaming device. The streaming device also connects directly to the Internet and provides video-on-demand for viewing and renting movies from the Internet.

"The entertainment world is changing rapidly for the avid consumer," said Peter Christensen, CEO, KiSS Technology. "KiSS has traditionally provided its customers with the most advanced features and capabilities to provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience. Working with Sigma's solidly proven solutions provide us with the opportunity to raise the bar with each new product. With wireless networking and Internet capabilities -- the world of consumer devices will continue to evolve and grow."

V Inc., the multiple award-winning digital display brand plans to launch the Bravo D3 high definition DVD player with WMV9 and HighMAT formatted playback. Bravo D3 is powered with Sigma's EM8620L on-chip processor allowing the Bravo D3 to provide DVD playback via DVI output in high-resolution 480p, 1080i and 720p formats. The Bravo D3 will also include DVD-R/RW, DVD R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW playback. The Bravo D3 is one of the first DVD players capable of playing MPEG2, MPEG4 and WMV9 in high definition. Audio decoding includes WMA9, WMA Pro, WMA lossless, Dolby Digital, MP3, MPEG-1/2 (layers 1, 2, and 3) and MPEG-4 AAC. The player supports Dolby Digital and DTS(R) multi-channel channel audio pass-through on Toslink optical and S/PDIF coaxial digital outputs. The player features NTSC/PAL output in composite and S-Video formats with interlaced or progressive component video output in 480i, 480p, 1080i, 720p and user-definable linear and non-linear resolutions.