2010 Press Releases

Magnum Semiconductor Enhances Low-Power Transcodec Chip for Place-Shifting and Content-on-the-Go on a USB Power Budget

Magnum’s DXT-LP Offers Network VBR functions to make AV streaming more enjoyable and compatible on home networks and the web

Wed, Jan 6th, 2010

Milpitas, CA, January 6, 2010 – Magnum Semiconductor, the leader in compression processors for Broadcast and Consumer markets, announced today new enhancements which improve the quality of consumer experience of streaming AV content on a network, both inside the home and on the go.

The Magnum DXT LP Low power HD encoder transcoder supports a wide variety of Input and Output formats, including MPEG2, AVC and VC-1, all the way from 1080i to lower resolution for streaming to a wide variety of appliances including HDTVs all the way to portables and smart phones. In addition, the DXT-LP supports faster-than-real-time transcoding. Magnum has also added a powerful Audio codec to support the variety of audio types required, including low, adaptive bit rate for mobile applications. Finally, Magnum has enhanced its platform to support 3^rd party security vendors. The DXT solution protects content throughout the flow.

“The high expectations consumers have regarding quality-of-experience for place- and device-shifting applications requires sophisticated technology to deliver superior video and audio quality in the most challenging situations,” stated Gal Garniek, VP Marketing and Sales at Magnum Semiconductor. “Magnum has developed network adaptive technologies which support fast channel change, seamless changes in resolution, bit-rate, frame-rate, and other characteristics of the output bitstream on the fly so that consumers receiving this content on a phone or broadband network will have a smooth, satisfying experience under any circumstance.”

The DXT-LP media-processor achieves this feat through the use of Magnum’s powerful and proprietary media-processor architecture, which delivers uncompromising video quality at lowest bit rates. The programmable architecture supports HD and SD resolutions, multiple encoding standards, such as H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 (AVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1, as well as multiple functions, such as encoding, transcoding and decoding.

Magnum leverages its leadership rate adaptation, decoding, and encoding technology developed for the Broadcast market. The DXT chip product family implements high-quality transcoding using a full decode and full re-encode to maximize the quality of the results, all in real-time or faster. In addition, Magnum’s DXT provides an optimal user transcoding, as well as best user quality of experience (QOE) with network- based rate adaptation, seamless frame and resolution changes, thus providing superior compression efficiency, superior video quality at lowest bit rates and best user experience. Magnum’s technology is distinct from other processors which are based on re-quantization or which do not support seamless network adaptation.

Pricing & Availability

The DXT-LP is currently shipping in volume. To help OEMs to speed time-to-market of their DXT-LP based products, Magnum offers the Plankton, a USB-powered reference design, which takes full advantage of the DXT-LP’s low power operation and transcoding capabilities. The Plankton reference design is immediately available for evaluation. Contact Magnum Semiconductor for pricing.

About Magnum Semiconductor

Magnum Semiconductor is a leading provider of silicon, modules, software and IP for the professional broadcast infrastructure and compression-enabled consumer clients. Magnum provides top of the line products, tools and technologies for the entire video content creation and distribution chain, from content capture and production to its delivery to the home. Magnum Semiconductor is headquartered in Milpitas, California, with sales and engineering offices in Canada, China, Japan and Korea. Further information is available at www.magnumsemi.com.

Media Contact:
Kishan Jainandunsing
+1.408.934.3738
pr@magnumsemi.com