UltraHD video processor enhances 4K streaming experience

According to Global Industry Analysts (GIA), the global market for NAS devices is projected to reach $7.0bn by 2017, with the growth primarily driven by the increase in the number of home and small-business networks, continued data explosion and the growing need for data backup and archiving.

Jones Tsai, Hardware Design Director, Synology, commented: "Streaming multimedia content is one of the many things Synology NAS excels at, backed by our support of an extensive range of destinations: mobile devices, players and TVs. The advent of 4K, however, poses a challenge to some of them due to the high processing power required for playing or transcoding. ST's capable, cost-effective 4K transcoding solution has enabled us to bring to users an ideal home server that's ready for the 4K future."

"The cooperation with Synology is a successful step for ST in the area of NAS, an emerging market with high growth potential," said Kelvin Wong, Director, Digital Product Group, Greater China & South Asia Region, STMicroelectronics. "Our STiH412 SoC solution helps Synology deliver an even more seamless and high-quality multimedia-streaming experience, boosting the deployment of NAS technology and increasing market penetration."

The Synology DiskStation DS216play is a high-value, multimedia-optimised NAS server. It features real-time 4K H.265 as well as 1080p H.264 / H265 video transcoding capabilities, allowing users to stream 4K digital TV and movies to digital media players, mobile handsets, computers and Smart TVs without worrying about supported formats. Equipped with a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU and 1 GB RAM, DS216play delivers an average of 107MB/sec reading and 91MB/sec writing speeds under RAID 1 configuration in a Windows environment. The built-in floating-point unit further enhances the user experience for multimedia enjoyment and thumbnail generation. The DS216play consumes only 15W in access and 6.8W during disk hibernation, hence can be an energy-efficient replacement for a home-theatre PC.

The STiH412 SoC in STMicroelectronics' ARM-based 'Monaco' family provides a full-featured solution for multi-HD and UltraHD IP set-top boxes and server-box applications. The SoC supports integrated broadcast and broadband services, combined with the latest STB middleware and broadband software solutions. ST's FaroudjaTranscode Engine delivers best-in-class transcoding capabilities for multi-screen streaming across consumer and handheld devices. This allows users to benefit from optimised network bandwidth, while offering an excellent quality of service throughout the home.