SoC enables 4Kp60 YouTube content

At the same time as pay TV operators move towards Ultra HD services, consumer adoption of Ultra HD sets is expected to double, with 27.5m Ultra HD sets expected to ship in 2015 and more than 100m in the marketplace by 2018. Operators and streaming service providers across the globe are expected to pick up the pace this year in rolling out Ultra HD services to their subscriber base.

Broadcom's BCM7445S can achieve more video transcoding through the integration of new proprietary video processing technology and on-chip hardware-based IP switching, ultimately making Ultra HD more affordable for operators to deploy. The SoC also adds support for Google's VP9 codec, which will allow users to stream 4K YouTube content to their set-top boxes and display to a TV. The VP9 codec provides up to 50% bitrate reduction for comparable quality as compared to the previous VP8 standard and enables a significant new source of Ultra HD content in this rapidly growing market.

"Broadcom's offering anticipates operators' need for an enhanced, multi-tasking Ultra HD home gateway that simultaneously delivers a variety of content formats," said Rich Nelson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Broadband & Connectivity Group, Broadcom. "With a powerful quad-core ARM processor that provides quad transcode and flexible content format support, The Ultra HD device paves the way for content providers to offer even more high-quality content as demand for 4K increases."