Fujitsu Microelectronics, Asia have announced two new transcoder ICs that can convert between Full HD (1920 dots x 1080 lines) MPEG-2(1) video data and H.264(2) video data, as well as transcoding between audio formats while featuring a low power consumption of 1.0W including the in-package memory. The new MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs support the growing number of electronic equipment that can record digital broadcasts.
Fujitsu Microelectronics, Asia have employed proprietary transcode technology to offer MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs with low power consumption. Combined with small form-factor packaging, these ICs can be used for non-mobile fixed electronic equipment such as digital video recorders (DVRs) and also in mobile products such as notebook PCs. In addition to the transcode function, security functions are included on a single chip to make it easy for customers to create their systems.
Digital TV broadcasts including HD are increasing worldwide, while demand for HD video recorders is also increasing. As many broadcasts still use MPEG-2 format, HD video recorders have a transcode function to convert the MPEG-2 data to the higher compression H.264 format, so that more data can be recorded onto certain media (hard-disk, DVD disc) and thus offer longer recording times.
At the same time, there are increasing needs to record digital broadcasts on mobile products, such as notebook PCs, as well as the increasing demands to create electronic appliances that use less energy. To meet these demands for low power consumption and small form-factors, Fujitsu Microelectronics developed the MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs.
These new transcoder ICs use Fujitsu Microelectronics' low power consumption technologies that have been used in their earlier H.264 Full HD CODEC ICs, including utilising proprietary video algorithms developed by Fujitsu Laboratories that maintain high video quality while reducing the processing load. Thus, when transcoding, a low power consumption of 1.0W including the power consumption of the in-package memory was realised.
The MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs also include audio transcode functionality, security functions for digital rights management of content, and a demodulator interface that are integrated on one chip as well as in-package memory.
The MB86H57 trancoder IC has a 15mm x 15mm package suitable for adding video recording capability to compact electronic equipment. Therefore, these ICs can be used in non-mobile fixed electronic equipment and enable expansion of the new recording functionality to mobile products such as notebook PCs. The MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs have low power consumption and a small form-factor.
Utilising Fujitsu Microelectronics' proprietary transcode technologies, a full HD H.264/MPEG-2 transcoder with low power consumption was realised. In addition, utilising one 512M bit memory (FCRAM(3)) in-package, as well as the usage of 65nm process technology, the power consumption during full HD transcoding, was kept down to 1.0W, including the in-package memory power consumption. These transcoder ICs are provided in a small form-factor and in a 15mm x 15mm package, so that it can be used in fixed electronic equipment and also in mobile products, such as notebook PCs.
In addition to the transcode and encode functions, the MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs feature security functions and demodulator interface that are integrated on one chip, providing the necessary functions for creating systems for recording digital broadcasts and making it easy for customers to create their systems.
The MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs have H.264/MPEG-2 bi-directional transcoder functionality. In addition to transcoding from MPEG-2 to H.264, as did the previous MB86H52 product, these new ICs also transcode from H.264 to SD MPEG-2, thus being able to handle the various formats likely encountered during use. These ICs also feature audio transcoding.
The MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs contain many interfaces for improved connectivity. As a host interface to connect to an external CPU, there is a 16 bit parallel interface and a TS interface as the video stream interface. In addition, there is a serial interface, PCI, PCI Express, and USB interface integrated. Connection to external ROM is also possible, thus realising high-speed boot for products that feature this IC.
Following are the specifications of the MB86H57 and MB86H58 transcoder ICs:
- MPEG-2: A video compression format (codec) that is part of the MPEG standard for video compression. MPEG-2 is used in DVDs and video products.
- H.264: Refers to MPEG4 AVC/H.264, a video-encoding format (codec) noted for offering more compression than MPEG-2 and other earlier formats. Jointly defined by the International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and International Organization for Standardization/International Electro technical Commission (ISO/IEC), it is the recent international standard for video compression.
- FCRAM (Fast Cycle RAM): Fujitsu Microelectronics' proprietary RAM core architecture featuring high-speed and low power consumption.