LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ViXS Systems Inc. (TSX: VXS), a pioneer and leader in media processing silicon solutions, today announced immediate availability of Thunder, the industry’s first small form factor Ultra HD 4K P60 IP Client Set-top Box (STB) reference design based on ViXS’ new XCode 6403 chipset. The 4-inch by 5-inch Thunder is available to customers immediately for licensing or manufacturing with production quantities available in Q2 2014. ViXS collaborated with DVD on this reference design and will demonstrate Thunder at the 2014 International CES, January 7-10, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (South Hall 2 - MP25953). Despite the addition of 4K resolutions and HEVC support, the Thunder reference design sports a form factor similar to that of existing IP clients available from operators such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and AT&T.
The XCode 6403’s efficient processing architecture, ultra-low power consumption and Ultra HD 4K 10-bit support allow equipment manufacturers to design new products immediately that push the boundaries of performance and features in surprisingly small and sleek form factors. Today’s media products require increasingly complex decoding, networking and streaming features to meet the demands of the 4K media client market, and the XCode 6403 enables manufacturers and service operators to meet this surging demand and take full advantage of the incredible color depth and picture clarity of 10-bit processing. The Software SDK available on Thunder lends itself easily to Linux and Android middleware implementations such as RDK, WyPlay and MediaRoom, that are based on HTML5, GStreamer, and QT.
The Thunder Ultra HD 4K reference design is highly customizable and includes the following baseline features:
- Ultra HD 4K HEVC 10-bit 60p decoding
- 2D/3D GUI support
- HDMI Out
- Gigabit Ethernet
- WiFi
- USB 3.0 & 2.0
"As the Ultra HD 4K market evolves and video providers begin delivering 4K content to their subscribers this year, there will be surging demand for Ultra HD 4K Media Clients," said Alan Breznick, a senior analyst at Heavy Reading who tracks the video tech business. "So it seems to be a smart move by ViXS to get its Ultra HD 4K Media Client reference design out into the Ultra HD 4K market early, before that market demand really starts taking off."
"The transition to Ultra HD 4K and HEVC-based content is moving at an unprecedented pace, and ViXS is helping the industry stay abreast by creating the Thunder reference design," said Sally Daub, President and CEO, ViXS Systems Inc. "Using the Thunder platform, OEM’s and ODM’s can now very quickly provide a full-featured yet ultra-compact IP Client STB product that delivers stunning video quality at market leading price points."
Thunder will be on display at the ViXS booth (MP25953 - South Hall 2) at the 2014 International CES, January 7-10, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
For more information on licensing the Thunder reference design please contact sales@vixs.com.
About ViXS Systems Inc.
ViXS is the pioneer and market leader in designing revolutionary media processing semiconductor solutions for the broadcasting and consumer electronics industries, with over 437 patents issued and pending worldwide, numerous industry awards for innovation, and over 29 million media processor shipments to date. ViXS is driving the transition to Ultra HD 4K across the entire content value chain by providing professional and consumer grade chipsets that support the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard up to Main 10 Profile, reducing bandwidth consumption by 50% while providing the depth of color and image clarity needed to take advantage of higher-resolution content. ViXS’ XCodePro 3xx family is ideal for Ultra HD 4K infrastructure equipment, and the XCode 6xxx family of system-on-chip (SoC) products achieve unprecedented levels of integration that enable manufacturers to create cost-effective consumer entertainment devices.
ViXS is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with offices in Europe, Asia and North America. VIXS™, the ViXS® logo, XCode®, XCodePro™, XConnex™ and Xtensiv™ are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ViXS. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information on ViXS, visit our website: www.vixs.com.