Panasonic Achieves the World-first Application of 45-nm System LSI Technology into Consumer Electronics

Realizing 4-times longer full HD recording and low-power consumption with its new high definition video recorder

OSAKA, Japan – Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, has achieved a world-first by applying a 45-nm system LSI to consumer electronics. The new system LSI is a new-generation UniPhier® in which next-generation AV data compression/decompression (codec) technology is applied to UniPhier®, Panasonic’s original digital consumer electronics integration platform. The new LSI is used for six new models of Panasonic’s new DIGA-series high definition video recorders, including Blu-ray disc recorders with a hard disc drive (HDD) and HDD/DVD recorders, scheduled for release in November 2007.

The new-generation UniPhier® uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, a next-generation codec. This has quadrupled [*1] the recordable time for the same media compared with MPEG-2, a representative conventional codec for moving pictures, since the image compression can be performed at twice or three times the usual efficiency.

To mount the next-generation codec on a system LSI, more elements than before must be formed on a limited space; actually 250 million transistors are integrated onto a single chip. In addition, it is vital to keep the power consumption within a limited range when the number of elements increases. Mass production of the new-generation UniPhier® system LSI has been made possible through a 45-nm process technology for much higher integration density than before. By applying the new UniPhier® LSI to DIGA-series video recorders, Panasonic achieved not only high definition recording on a DVD disc, but also quadrupled [*1] the recordable time.

Features:

1. Quadrupled recordable time in full high definition (full HD) recording [*1]
   This has been achieved by employing multi decoding technology, which is capable of simultaneously processing two large screens of high picture quality and full-HD, and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding technology, which compresses a full-HD image into 1/2 to 1/3 its original size compared with the conventional technology.
2. Advanced user interface such as “full HD EPG(electronic program guide)” and easy connectivity to digital electronics, realized by high-performance 3D graphics processing technology and symmetry-type multiprocessor technology.
3. Compactness and low power consumption realized by utilizing system LSI design technology that allows integration of 250 million transistors onto an LSI chip and 45-nm semiconductor micro processing technology.

[*1] Recorded at HE mode. In comparison with the recording of BS Digital HD Broadcast at DR mode.