STMicroelectronics’ shipment of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 chips exceeds 400 million

ST develops and produces very complex and highly integrated chips at all price levels, in a market which now embraces technologies such as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD), as well as advanced video codecs (H.264, VC-1, AVS) for terrestrial, satellite, cable,
IPTV (Internet Protocol TV), Internet TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD applications. ST’s innovative Omega decoder families have set the industry standard for performance at optimum cost, based on a common platform approach, shortening the time-to-market, as well as using common reference software which is
supported by a large software community.

ST complements its MPEG platforms by providing – or embedding – state-of-the-art satellite, cable and terrestrial tuners and demodulators, which convert the broadcast signal into the digital data stream for the MPEG decoder. Additionally, ST also offers high-performance digital audio amplifiers and TV sound processors that power audio enhancement and surround-sound applications.

Worldwide progress towards analog switch-off continues to be a major driver of the growth in the market, especially in terrestrial and cable services. Most countries have set timetables for the terrestrial broadcast transition extending over the coming years; in some countries it is almost complete, in others the move is in the early stages. In addition, integrated digital TV
sets have shown a dramatic increase in popularity, with MPEG-2 integration in DTT (digital terrestrial television) moving faster than industry predictions, and MPEG-4 HD DTT gaining momentum after early adoption in certain countries. Following the success of ST’s MPEG-2 products in DTV,
several top Asian and European TV manufacturers are already designing new TV sets based on ST’s state-of-the-art STi710x MPEG-4 solution.

In the fast move to digital broadcast, ST is particularly well placed to support emerging markets, such as the MPEG-2 cable market in China, where ST is already the number one supplier, in addition to local IPTV MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 services; and the satellite and cable market in India, with MPEG-2
and MPEG-4 services.

ST’s market-leading position reflects a continual process of innovation to meet the technical and pricing requirements of STB, DTV and DVD manufacturers. At the top of the current roadmap, the STi7200
dual-video-stream HD decoder chip, announced in January 2007, is intended for networked STBs, digital video recorders (DVRs) and blue-laser high-definition DVD players. This very highly integrated SoC supports both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats for universal DVD players, in addition to HDTV broadcast standards, and is produced in a state-of-the-art 65nm process technology to deliver lower power consumption and competitive pricing; and several manufacturers are already designing it in to new applications.

For very high volume, price-sensitive markets, integrated devices such as the STi5188 satellite STB receiver/decoder chip, and others, combine the functions of receiver and mass-market decoder, with production in 90nm process technology and additional cost-saving features for manufacturers, to
enable the manufacture of digital receivers competing in cost with analog sets.