Toshiba and ViXS agree to develop wireless PVR products

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Jan 12, 2004

ViXS Systems, the leading developer of video networking chipsets and software, announced recently it is closely working with Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) to develop a cost-effective personal video recorder (PVR) reference platform for consumer electronics manufacturers. TAEC will integrate ViXS' recently announced XCode II video processing chipset into its TX4938 PVR reference design, which will be capable of managing multiple streams of analog and digital video content and offer advanced PVR capabilities over a wired or wireless network.

"We evaluated several wireless video processing chipsets, and ViXS' XCode II was the perfect fit for the PVR features we had built into our TX4938 reference design," said Shardul Kazi, vice president of TX RISC Business Unit of TAEC. "It allows us to maximize the efficiency of our low-bandwidth hard disk controller while distributing multiple streams of high-quality analog and digital video content throughout a home network. When it comes to video over IP networks, ViXS' technology is clearly the leader in its space."

The highly efficient encoding capabilities of ViXS' XCode extend recording time of the TX4938 and TC86C001 companion chip integrated IDE controller by 200 percent. XCode II also provides high-performance, multi-stream analog encoding at any bit-rate; simultaneous distribution of up to four analog and four digital streams, including simultaneous recording and high-speed transrating that enable content to be viewed on any networked display device; and guaranteed QoS with a full 30 frames per second of video to wireless and wired clients.

Sally Daub, CEO and president of ViXS Systems, said, "Major ODMs and OEMs are clearly interested in putting high-quality digital video products in the hands of consumers as soon as possible. They are turning to ViXS because we have identified the best approach and have the technology and expertise to address the unique requirements of storing, processing and distributing video."

ViXS' XCode II video processor is optimized for wireless video distribution and can adjust the bit-rates, resolutions and formats of multiple MPEG streams in real time, adapting each stream to the changing network bandwidth. By managing the video stream, XCode II is the first to guarantee 30 frames per second (FPS) of high-quality video over any type of Internet protocol (IP) network. The chipset can efficiently process content ranging from analog to high-definition digital video, and its high-speed transrating/transcoding capabilities--8X to 24X real time--can adjust the bit rate, resolution and MPEG format simultaneously to account for wide variations in the processing capabilities, storage capacities and display resolutions of different consumer devices.