ViXS Systems unveils first multi-stream analog/digital video processor with MPEG encoder.

ViXS Systems, a leading developer of video networking chipsets and software, announced recently the general availability of XCode II, the company's next-generation video processor that delivers unmatched reliability and high-quality streaming video. XCode II is the first chip that can efficiently process content ranging from analog to high-definition digital video, then transfer multiple streams to any display device and store video on any type of hard drive or memory media. Furthermore, XCode II provides guaranteed quality for streaming video, including HDTV, over any standard in-home wired or wireless network. By integrating XCode II into their consumer electronic devices, OEMs are guaranteed all the functionality and quality of a broadcasting head-end unit while benefiting from accelerated time to market and lower production costs.

ViXS offers several new features on the XCode II chipset that increase the performance of video processing and provide consumers with a high-quality viewing experience. XCode II is the first chipset that can encode and transrate multiple streams of analog and digital content in real time, including high definition and standard definition video. This content can come from any source because XCode II processes video in any standard format, from MPEG1 to MPEG4. In addition, the encoding technology integrated into XCode II can process video frame information with much better quality and at a lower bit rate than previous processors. This benefits consumers by reducing the amount of memory required to store video and makes this technology ideal for PVRs and DVD-Rs.

"Sharing video content between devices with vastly different processing and image display capabilities while preserving the user's viewing experience is incredibly difficult to accomplish," said Sally Daub, president and CEO of ViXS Systems. "It won't be long before consumers expect that any video-enabled device they own will be capable of wirelessly receiving and displaying their favorite video content. We designed XCode II to process both analog and digital video, and the response from consumer electronic manufacturers has been extraordinarily positive."

With its greatly reduced bit rate, ViXS' XCode II enables consumers to transfer video at much greater speeds. Its high-speed transcoding capabilities--8X to 24X real time--can also adjust the bit rate to account for wide variations in the processing capabilities and storage capacities of different consumer devices. This ensures that video is always streamed and displayed at the highest quality that an individual device will allow. For example, when a user streams a high-definition television show to his PDA, XCode II can downscale the video to accommodate the lower-definition and memory capabilities of the device with no interruption in the video stream. Since XCode II delivers a high-quality content stream regardless of the video format, display device or storage medium, the entire video processing function is transparent to users, allowing them to easily manipulate content any way they want.

"This new chip with its advanced encoding capabilities delivers a level of video quality that makes it ideal for the coming wave of wireless video consumer products," said Mr. Takashi Fukuda, senior managing executive officer of Nissho Electronics, ViXS' primary distributor in Japan. "A number of our customers, which include some of the world's largest consumer electronics companies, have already provided us with very positive feedback about XCode II. We expect that it will enable manufacturers to meet their cost and performance goals necessary to bring wireless video capabilities to the mass market."