Altera Offers Enhanced Color Space Converter MegaCore For Video and Imaging Applications.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2001

Intellectual Property Core Offers More Conversion Options,

Greater User Configurability

Altera Corporation (Nasdaq:ALTR) announced today the immediate availability of a new version of its Color Space Converter MegaCore(R) function that offers increased capabilities and more user-configurable options. In addition to the existing computer R'G'B' to Y'CbCr conversion supported by the prior version, the new Color Space Converter supports six additional conversion types as well as the ability to accept user-specified conversion constraints and both signed and unsigned input data widths from 2 to 32 bits. This version of the Color Space Converter also generates bit- and cycle-accurate Matlab models for easy system-level design and analysis. These new features will enable developers of video and image manipulation equipment to rapidly develop their products using programmable logic.

Color space conversion is often used in video equipment that transfers data between devices that use different color space models. For example, to transfer a television image to a computer monitor, the image may need to be converted from the Y'CbCr color space to the R'G'B' color space. With the abundance of new display products and the increasing need to communicate between computers and consumer electronic devices, it is becoming crucial to manipulate video signals from very different sources in a simple and cost-effective way. The Altera Color Space Converter MegaCore function performs these types of color transformations for a variety of applications, including high-end digital camera systems for image editing and special effects, as well as supporting different digital camera output formats, bringing flexibility, time-to-market, and ease-of-use to the very demanding world of video signal processing.

The Color Space Converter MegaCore supports all of Altera's look-up table (LUT)-based products, ranging from low-cost ACEX(TM) devices to high-performance Mercury(TM) devices. In a Mercury device, the Color Space Converter can operate at frequencies as high as 268 MHz when using 8-bit unsigned input ports and 10-bit coefficients. With this level of performance, critical bottlenecks associated with resolving complex 3-dimensional images, such as those found in medical imaging applications, can be easily addressed. Further, the implementation of the converter in a Mercury device is very resource efficient, occupying only 380 logic elements, or less than 8% of the logic capacity of the smallest Mercury device.

Designers can try the Color Space Converter in their PLD designs free of charge via Altera's OpenCore(R) evaluation flow. Under the OpenCore evaluation flow, potential users can download intellectual property (IP) from Altera's web site, integrate it into their designs developed using MAX+PLUS(R) II or Quartus(R) II development tools, and compile it to verify that it meets their functional and timing needs before licensing it. The ordering code for the Color Space Converter is PLSM-CSC, and it is priced at $995. For more information about the Color Space Converter or any of Altera's many IP offerings, visit http://www.altera.com/ipmegastore.

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company(R), was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.

Note to Editors: Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the stylized Altera logo, specific device designations and all other words that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders.