Texas Instruments Sees Transcoding as Key to the Video Entertainment Market

Texas Instruments Sees Transcoding as Key to the Video Entertainment Market

November 09, 2006

Future Transcoding Technology Supporting Multiple Video Formats is Pivotal to Next Generation Video Market Growth

    DALLAS, Nov. 7 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- As the
accelerating video market extends its reach to products
such as cell phones, portable media players and automotive
infotainment systems, consumers are demanding easy access
to their video content throughout the home and on the go. 
The next stage of the video revolution must solve the
challenge of seamlessly moving multi-format video content
between all types of video devices.  According to Texas
Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN), transcoding is
crucial to addressing this challenge and enabling
electronics manufacturers to drive the continued evolution
of the video entertainment market.  (For more information,
see http://www.ti.com/transcoding )

    (Logo:
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    Transcoding is the ability to take existing video
content and change the format, bit rate and/or resolution
in order to view it on another video device.  A new
research study done by IDC concurs finding that transcoding
is an essential technology for delivering digital content to
video playback devices that were previously incompatible. 

    Transcoding a single video format is available today
but that will not meet consumers' needs to easily navigate
the changing video environment.  The ability to view
content on any device requires the need to transcode many
video formats, thus multi-format transcoding is key.

    "Transcoding is a life-or-death issue facing
manufacturers and service providers as they try to realize
the explosive growth in video entertainment," predicts
Gene Frantz, TI's Principal Fellow.  "Consumers have an
insatiable appetite for immersion in entertainment, and
transcoding among multiple formats will be mandatory for
all future video products to be successful.  Digital signal
processing technology will be an essential piece in laying
the foundation for transcoding among multiple consumer
devices.  TI will continue to leverage our proven expertise
in multi-format advanced video codecs and our position as
the only fully-programmable DSP technology provider
performing real-time transcoding to include this
functionality in a range of client media solutions."

    Service providers and electronic device manufacturers
alike must face the truth: content really is king. 
Consumers are demanding that their content be easily
transportable and available on any device they have on
hand.  The ability to seamlessly move content in real-time
is only made possible by transcoding.  Transcoding can
change the bit rate, resolution and format of video
content, allowing multiple devices with varying
specifications to play back content.  This is also true for
HD content where transcoding extends the reach of content
beyond the TV, making it possible to send, receive and view
HD source content on any video device at any resolution.  

    "The growing variety of home, business and mobile
electronic devices is forcing content providers, network
service providers and end-user device manufacturers to
tackle the problem of sending large amounts of digital data
in multiple formats," reports IdaRose Sylvester, senior
analyst for IDC in the Executive Brief titled
"Transcoding: The Future of the Video Market Depends
on It," November 2006.  The brief also highlights
that, "Transcoding is being deployed today, and is
becoming a critical part of the network infrastructure. 
The real driver for transcoding, and the content delivery
that it enables, ultimately is the consumer. Consumers will
demand services such as HD programming, programming on
demand, as well as content available to them anytime,
anywhere, and will seek this from traditional and
non-traditional sources.  Transcoding enables new delivery
services and content ubiquity."  The new IDC Executive
Brief also discusses the business drivers for transcoding,
as well as the challenges and opportunities for this
strategically important technology.

    To download a copy of IDC's report, "Transcoding:
The Future of the Video Market Depends on It," visit
http://www.ti.com/transcoding .  TI will also be hosting an
online, IDC-moderated panel discussion featuring many
industry visionaries. The panelists will discuss the
challenges and opportunities of transcoding and how it will
affect them and the video market directly.   For more
information and to register for this webcast, visit
http://www.ti.com/transcoding .

    About Texas Instruments

    Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP
and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world
signal processing requirements.  In addition to
Semiconductor, the company includes the Educational &
Productivity Solutions business.  TI is headquartered in
Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales
operations in more than 25 countries.

    Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol TXN.  More information is located
on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com .

    Trademarks

    All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong
to their respective owners.

    For more information, please contact:

     Stephanie Groswirt
     Texas Instruments
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Tara Hanney
     GolinHarris
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Texas Instruments Incorporated