Philips unveils new solutions for advanced consumer electronics

During the recently concluded IFA 2005 in Berlin, Germany, Royal Philips Electronics announced a series of semiconductor solutions for advanced consumer electronics applications in the home, including a complete system solution for digital TVs for the European market, a development kit for IP STBs, a Class D amplifier for flat panel TVs, and a video decoder enabling TV on the PC.

"Philips' heritage in consumer electronics gives us insight into the wants and needs of consumers, allowing us to design semiconductor solutions for next-generation consumer electronics," shared Giel Rutten, senior vice president and GM, Business Unit Home, Philips. "For the home, this means solutions that enable the Connected Consumer to easily experience the latest entertainment, information and services, all through TVs, STBs and home media devices with the highest audio and video quality."

DTV in Europe

Philips introduced the Nexperia TV810 DVB semiconductor system solution that is specifically designed for the European market. This system solution is highly integrated to allow TV manufacturers to quickly bring to market digital TVs. With support for PAL/SECAM and DVB-T, and offering features such as advanced picture improvement algorithms, MP3 playback and JPEG digital photo display, the TV810 DVB enables an enhanced consumer entertainment experience.

Philips also demonstrated its latest IF demodulator for analog and digital TV reception. The new TDA989x supports all analog and digital TV standards, and offers advanced features to improve picture quality in areas with poor reception. The chip reduces the number of external components needed, simplifying design and reducing the BoM for manufacturers.

During the IFA, Philips also demonstrated a development kit that promises to help manufacturers lower development costs, reduce time to market, and meet the growing consumer demand for IP STBs. Based on the company's Nexperia PNX855x Home Entertainment Engine, the STB810 enables rapid development of IP and broadcast STBs with advanced features such as video telephony, picture improvement algorithms, time-shift recording, DVD playback, storage and personal video recording. The STB810 is also offered with a choice of Linux and WinCE programming environments to provide STB manufacturers the design flexibility they need.

The TDA8932T Class D amplifier from Philips is specifically designed for flat panel TVs. According to the press release, this product is targeted at consumers who expect the audio performance to match up to the video quality of their new flat screen TVs. This one chip solution meets the design constraints faced by flat panel TV manufacturers, including limited board space and low power requirements, and delivers high quality audio to the consumer, added the company.

Philips also demonstrated its new PCI Express dual global video and stereo decoder for digital home PC desktops and notebooks. The new PCI Express AV decoder, which can be incorporated into a PC-TV card or incorporated directly onto the motherboard of a PC, enables PCs to capture multiple broadcast analog and digital TV signals.