"We are also experiencing increased competition from suppliers who offer an integrated front-end servo and MPEG decoder solution and we are seeing a faster than expected transition to this new integrated solution."
Anybody know who the supplier is they are referring to?
qwave, I don't know the answer to your question, but this press release from ZRAN would appear to meet the above description:
SOURCE: Zoran Corporation
Zoran Announces World's Most Integrated DVD System-On-A-Chip Solution
Sixth Generation Vaddis Integrates DVD Player Front End With Back End Functions On A Single IC
SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zoran Corporation (Nasdaq: ZRAN - News) announced that its sixth generation Vaddis 6 is a complete advanced DVD system-on-a-chip (SOC) solution, which integrates the DVD front end and back end functions on a single chip. Sample quantities are now shipping to major DVD player manufacturers.
Vaddis 6, the newest member of the Vaddis product line of advanced DVD multimedia solutions, delivers break through technology in a unified shared memory architecture controlled by a single internal CPU. Zoran has delivered the DVD front end (read channel, servo, data processor, CPU) and back end functions (MPEG decode, CPU, video encoder, and progressive scan output) on a single IC. Integrating both the DVD player front-end servo system with the back-end MPEG decoding system delivers higher quality performance for consumers and increased profitability for DVD player manufacturers.
By reducing both the DVD player system chip count and the system cost, Zoran has effectively delivered cost savings for manufacturers and high quality progressive scan output for entry and midrange markets. Consumers will soon be able to purchase popular brand Vaddis-based DVD players with progressive scan output at very attractive prices.
On the front end, Vaddis 6 integrates a versatile, fully programmable digital servo processor. Zoran has implemented proprietary advanced data recovery methods and error handling for improved readability of various types of disks. Zoran also offers DVD manufacturers a tuned reference design with leading OPU (optical pick-up unit) for optimized system performance using the Vaddis 6. The servo tracks and acquires the data signal by controlling the OPU and drive motor, then passes the signal to the data processor for data extraction and error correction. The MPEG decoder then decodes the audio/video data onto the television and the speakers.
On the back end MPEG decoding, Vaddis 6 inherits the traditional high quality performance of the Vaddis product line providing superior image quality and leading-edge audio video features that include progressive scan output, DVD-Audio, Dolby ProLogic, professional Karaoke and other high-level features that contribute to giving consumers high quality, seamless viewing and listening experiences.
"Zoran's innovation has produced an industry-leading, highly integrated DVD system-on-a-chip. This advanced DVD SOC increases the overall DVD system reliability and quality, decreases the system power consumption, and most importantly, reduces the DVD system level cost structure," said Camillo Martino, executive vice president and chief operations officer at Zoran. "In addition, consumers gain some exceptional features such as progressive scan video in DVD players that are likely to be priced under $100."
Vaddis 6 is designed for OEMs to easily migrate from previous Vaddis DVD solutions, allowing a quick time to market. Zoran expects that Vaddis 6-based DVD systems will begin to ship towards the end of the year.
Vaddis-based DVD players are compatible with popular media such as CD-ROM, CD-R/-RW, and DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW, as well as formats such as DVD-Video and DVD-Video Recording.
Photo available.
About Zoran Corporation
Zoran Corporation, based in Santa Clara, California, is a leading provider of digital solutions-on-a-chip for applications in the growing consumer electronics markets. With almost two decades of expertise developing and delivering digital compression technologies, Zoran has pioneered high- performance processing into various audio, video, and imaging technologies. Zoran's proficiency in integration delivers major benefits for OEM customers, including greater capabilities within each product generation, reduced system costs, and shorter time to market. Zoran is a leading supplier in the rapidly expanding DVD and digital camera markets and in related digital audio and video applications. With headquarters in the U.S. and operations in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Zoran may be contacted on the World Wide Web at www.zoran.com or at 408-919-4111.
Zoran and Vaddis are registered trademarks of Zoran Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Zoran Corporation
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