Analog Devices today announced that it is working with RealNetworks(R), Inc. to provide the latest generation of Personal Media Players featuring full D1 broadcast resolution playback of RealVideo(R) and RealAudio(R) media files, the same formats used in RealPlayer(R). The combined efficiency of the RealVideo format and the performance of the Blackfin(R) processor deliver a high-quality level of video playback traditionally not found in personal media players. This fall Chinese market leader Aigo introduced two models, the Aigo E898 and F965R, that feature support of RealVideo, RealAudio and the RMVB formats running on a Blackfin processor. Aigo credits the Blackfin with shortening time to market and reducing the risk in product design, since the inherent programmability of Blackfin allows for rapid development cycles.
According to Kevin Wang, senior manager at iSuppli Corporation, "iSuppli expects that China’s domestic portable media players (PMPs) production will grow to 122 million units by 2011. Although at present the market is dominated by low-end MP4 players, in the newest players with RealVideo, RealAudio and RMVB support, Chinese manufacturers have the most favored media format today. The new products will also greatly enrich the source of content through downloading directly from the Internet. ADI’s Blackfin product can help Chinese PMP makers introduce new PMPs with shorter time to market, leveraging third-party design houses. Blackfin products from ADI are already widely adopted in mobile TVs and the DVR market in Asia."
Martin Schwarz, assistant vice president of format for RealNetworks, commented, "RealPlayer is the leading media player in the Chinese market and the RealVideo format is the preferred digital media format. We are excited that the Blackfin embedded processor supports high quality and stable decoding of RealVideo and RMVB media at a full D1 broadcast resolution and 16M colors. We are pleased that Aigo has continued to extend its line of PMP devices to support RealVideo and RMVB files by leveraging the Blackfin processor from ADI."
"The pairing of Blackfin and Real’s formats in the latest PMP products demonstrates that Blackfin is being adopted in demanding applications across the electronics industry and the world. Analog Devices is very pleased with the results of this effort with Aigo and RealNetworks to extend the display capabilities of personal media players to full broadcast resolution. With our worldwide partners, we are advancing technology innovation, not only in handheld video technology, but in industrial, digital home and automotive markets. The contributions of our partners such as IPED, in Hangzhou, in integrating the Aigo PMP solution are highly valued," said Maury Wood, director of personal media player technologies at Analog Devices.
"Aigo has been depending on Blackfin processors for a number of media player applications because we can rapidly add and change features to respond to market opportunities. When we defined the latest products with RealVideo, RealAudio and RMVB playback, we were confident that Blackfin would provide the required processing power, time to market and battery life. We are very pleased with the outcome. Blackfin provides a strategic advantage to Aigo, by allowing us to quickly bring the highest quality products in the media player market to customers," said Zhang Yongfeng, general manager of the Multimedia Group, Aigo.
A Convergent Future Demands Blackfin-Class Processing
Analog Devices’ Blackfin embodies a new breed of 16/32-bit embedded processor with the industry’s highest performance and power efficiency for applications where a convergence of capabilities — multi-format audio, video, voice and image processing; multi-mode baseband and packet processing; and real-time security and control processing — are critical. It is this powerful combination of software flexibility and scalability that has gained Blackfin widespread adoption in convergent applications such as digital home entertainment, networked and streaming media, automotive telematics and infotainment, and digital radio and mobile TV.
