SIGMA DESIGNS UPGRADES THE FRONT OF SCREEN EXPERIENCE

“The TV has become a platform through which consumers desire to access a wider variety of entertainment and media, including videos, games, user-generated content, music, and social networking content,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. “New development environments such as Adobe AIR for TV, and XBMC will enable consumers to download applications, play games, watch HDTV and visit TV-optimized sites – all from the comfort of their couch. A flexible and easy-to-use interface is a critical factor in how consumers will enjoy these new experiences, and Sigma Designs is smart to provide OEMs such a complete tool chest of rich user interface options.”

At CES 2011, Sigma Designs will showcase four state-of-the-art environments:
· Adobe AIR for TV running media-rich music and video applications
· A preview of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for the latest Espial TV web browser
· XBMC with its rich user interface and ability to download applications onto the platform
· A rich 3D graphics framework for next generation hybrid platforms

“The XBMC team welcomes Sigma Designs, a leading provider in the embedded player market, to our list of working hardware platforms,” said Cory Fields, XBMC Business Relations Manager. “Together we will give manufacturers a robust solution for development and innovation, which will in turn bring our highly acclaimed user experience to a new audience of media enthusiasts.”

The SMP8910 is the first studio-grade SoC for advanced connected media players. It integrates the popular VXP post-processing technology used in most Hollywood post-production equipment into mainstream media processors. This new high-performance chip delivers an unparalleled full resolution 1080p 3DTV viewing experience, eliminates video artifacts caused by compression and transmission, and can handle more TV platform features concurrently. At the same time, it can decode more high definition videos than rival systems – leading to a better viewing experience for consumers.

The SMP8670 is a new thin-client SoC optimized to run over-the-top application environments such as Adobe AIR for TV, Adobe Flash Player and other graphically-rich environments. The chip is 40% faster than previous Sigma thin-client solutions and dramatically improves the responsiveness of these new, advanced user interfaces.

“Sigma is making the TV platform real by offering practical tools for OEMs to quickly build attractive, yet affordable solutions around these new technologies,” said David Lynch, vice president and general manager, Media Processor Group at Sigma Designs. “Combining these environments with our new SMP8910 and SMP8670 solutions will enable new front of screen experiences not yet seen in connected media players so far.”