Cirrus Logic Enables Intel Intercast Applications with Easy-To-Implement Multimedia Card Design; 64-Bit VisualMedia Accelerator Provides Broadcast-Quality Video.FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 1996--Cirrus Logic, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRUS crus (krus) pl. cru´ra [L.] 1. leg (1). 2. a leglike part. crus ce´rebri ) today unveiled a reference design (the Combo Card) that allows PC OEMs and card manufacturers to produce a cost-efficient, robust solution that gives users access to the broadcast web pages of the Intel Intercast application. Working with Intel and Brooktree, Cirrus Logic developed the new design to bring Intel Intercast technology to the mainstream PC market. Along with letting users access unique content, created by NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. , CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. and MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. and delivered over the TV signal to a PC, the new design additionally supports videotape programming, software MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). playback, and videoconferencing. The Combo Card design features Cirrus Logic's CL-GD5446 Alpine VisualMedia(TM) Accelerator, the Brooktree Bt829 Video Capture Processor and support for the Intel Intercast application, which an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and licenses from Intel. By using the CL-GD5446, the design features an open architecture that is easily configured to support a broad range of multimedia applications. This open architecture is provided by the chip's V-Port feature, a non-proprietary hardware interface and with the Video Port Manager (VPM VPM Vibrations Per Minute (engineering) VPM Vampire Princess Miyu (anime) VPM Video Port Manager VPM Virtual Product Management VPM Ventroposteromedial VPM Voice Processing Module ), a standardized and flexible API. Another key feature of the design that is especially beneficial to users, is TVTap(TM) software, an easy-to-use, TV-type user interface developed by Cirrus Logic. With on-screen remote control graphics, TVTap lets users channel surf, view and capture data to a file, zoom video to full screen, adjust video and audio controls, freeze frame freeze frame a facility on an ultrasound machine which permits an image to be held on a screen. video, capture video to a disk and block selected channels with simple point and click functions. "Our product strategy is to provide a multimedia `building block' for developing innovative and cost-effective solutions that will speed the emergence of new digital video applications and services," said Tom Kao, director of marketing for Cirrus Logic's Graphics Company. "By design, our accelerators enable customers to easily add features, performance and application functionality for mainstream multimedia solutions. We also ensure that our reference designs can be easily ported, without additional development work, to Cirrus Logic's future graphics devices." "We are excited that Cirrus Logic is using the Bt829 Video Capture Processor in conjunction with its CL-GD5446 VisualMedia Accelerator for this design," said Tim Yates, video decoder product manager for Brooktree's Graphics and Imaging Business Unit. "The Bt829 enables high-quality, fully-filtered TV capture with simultaneous real-time support for Intel's Intercast technology and closed captioning on a single card with the graphics accelerator. The Bt829 brings unprecedented capabilities to this type of add-in card where video performance is now as critical as graphics performance, due to such recent developments as Intel's Intercast application." "Cirrus Logic's support for Intel's Intercast technology will help bring this new medium to mainstream PC users," said Lorie Wigle, Consumer Client Marketing Director, Intel Internet and Communications Group. "With the convergence of television broadcast programming with the PC, users will be able to enjoy a whole new realm of exciting multimedia-rich content." The heart of the Combo Card design is the CL-GD5446 Alpine VisualMedia Accelerator. The chip's V-Port interface provides a highly-optimized digital video path into the graphics subsystem, which eliminates the need for a PCI slot. It allows OEMs to build cards that pack high-intensity graphics, multimedia acceleration, a TV subsystem, and stereo TV into an elegant solution. This interface also supports TV-quality display and access to the real-time decode of Intel Intercast content, while ensuring peak performance for other applications running simultaneously on the screen. With the VPM API, OEMs can quickly develop portable and standardized video applications. The CL-GD5446 employs a number of Cirrus Logic patented image processing and design features including the Accupak data compression technique and Multiformat Frame Buffer. Other chip capabilities include support for video windows occlusion occlusion /oc·clu·sion/ (o-kloo´zhun) 1. obstruction. 2. the trapping of a liquid or gas within cavities in a solid or on its surface. 3. and for full-screen zoom at resolutions of up to 1028 x 768 without video degradation. The new reference design supports all international broadcast standards (NTSC (National TV Standards Committee) The committee that developed the television standards for the U.S, which are also used in Canada, Japan, South Korea and several Central and South American countries. Both the committee and the standard are called "NTSC. , PAL and SECAM (SEquential Couleur Avec Memoire, Sequential Color with Memory) A color TV standard from France that was officially introduced in 1967. Although development began in 1956, it took time to convert from the earlier French 819-line system. video standards), Vertical Blanking Interval The part of a TV signal that is sent between each video frame. In North American TV (NTSC), the vertical blanking interval (VBI) takes up the last 45 lines of each 525-line frame. (VBI See vertical blanking interval. ) data support for Intel Intercast technology, Closed Caption and Teletext data. Multichannel Television Sound Multichannel television sound, better known as MTS (often still as BTSC, for the Broadcast Television Systems Committee that created it), is the method of encoding three additional channels of audio into an NTSC-format audio carrier. (MTS (1) See Microsoft Transaction Server. (2) (Modular TV System) The stereo channel added to the NTSC standard, which includes the SAP audio channel for special use. 1. MTS - Message Transport System. 2. ) stereo audio processing is provided along with support of Second Audio Program (SAP), transforming the PC into a MTS stereo television. Content is accessible from either Cable or "Off -Air" Broadcast via a 100+ channel TV tuner, composite baseband video sources such as VCR's, camcorder, and laser discs, or S-Video sources. Availability The Combo Card reference design, along with the TVTap software reference package for the CL-GD5446 are available from Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic Inc. is a leading manufacturer of advanced integrated circuits for desktop and portable computing, telecommunications and consumer electronics markets. The Company applies its system-level expertise in analog and digital design to innovate highly integrated, software-rich solutions. Cirrus Logic has developed a broad portfolio of products and technologies for applications spanning multimedia, communications, mass storage, and data acquisition. Additional information about Cirrus Logic and its subsidiaries can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.cirrus.com/ or via fax-on-demand at 800/359-6414 (dial 510/249-4200 from outside the United States). CONTACT: Cirrus Logic, Inc. Connie Duncan, 510/226-2346 (Editor contact) cduncan@corp.cirrus.com or Devang Patel, 510/252-6073 (Reader contact) devang@corp.cirrus.com or Tsantes & Associates Marlo Jones, 510/452-8700 marlo@tsantes.com |
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