High quality image processing on a chip

NXP Semiconductors has said that it is bringing world-class image improvement techniques to mobile picture and video applications, including camcorder and downloaded video, TV-on-mobile, and more.

NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, has announced at the 2007 3GSM World Congress, that it will bring world-class image improvement techniques to mobile picture and video applications, including camcorder and downloaded video, TV-on-mobile, and more.

The NXP exceptional viewing experience companion chip PNX4150 will begin sampling in Q2 of 2007.

The NXP exceptional viewing experience companion chip PNX4150, pairs NXP's patented Mobile Pixel Plus (MPP) and Mobile Natural Motion (MNM) technologies to enable ultimate sharpness; vivid and realistic colours; true, natural detail; smooth motion; and enhanced contrast on mobile handset and personal media player (PMP) displays.

At the heart of the PNX4150 companion chip are NXP's patented Mobile Pixel Plus (MPP) and Mobile Natural Motion (MNM) video-processing algorithms implemented in hardware.

Along with Adaptive Backlight Control (ABC), additional display-processing algorithms, including Adaptive colour Gamut Mapper (ACGM); Adaptive Contrast Booster (ACB); and Advanced Frame Mixer (AFM), round out the chip's picture-enhancing and power-saving feature set.

Because the video- and display-processing algorithms are implemented in hardware, they require less power than software equivalents.

For lower overall cost, the small, highly efficient PNX4150 companion chip sits between any baseband/application processor and cost-effective RAM-less display.

It accepts streaming video with input resolution up to QVGA, and can optionally up-sample the video to accommodate the full display size (for certain cases up to WVGA).

Additionally, Adaptive Backlight Control (ABC) allows all of these features to be enjoyed with 40% lower power consumption of the display, resulting in significantly longer battery life and further enhancing the consumer uptake of robust entertainment applications on mobile devices.

According to Vinita Jakhanwal, Principal Analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli, based in El Segundo, California, "If visually intensive, interactive mobile applications, such as TV-on-mobile, streaming video, 3D gaming and location-based services are to reach mass acceptance and adoption among today's savvy consumers, handset and portable device OEMs must ensure they can deliver these groundbreaking applications with technology that provides both high quality and ease of use - this includes a high-definition, low-power mobile display".

"Designed to operate independently of architecture and platform, the PNX4150 companion chip can reside on the motherboard or display module of nearly any system that uses a small, low-cost display", says Kees Joosse, Senior Director, Business Development at NXP Semiconductors.

"Because NXP's exceptional viewing experience technology can be added with little effort and cost to any handset or PMP design, consumers can start enjoying living room-quality images on their mobile devices sooner than they think".

NXP will be showcasing the technology in its booth (Hall 8, Booth #110) at the 2007 3GSM World Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain between 12th and 15th February.

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