Dune HD and Sigma Designs announce set-top box collaboration

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014
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Dune HD and Sigma Designs Collaborate on Broad Range of Set-Top Box Solutions

  • Powerful, Cost-Effective Sigma SMPs Power New and Award-Winning USB-Based OTT Streaming Device, HEVC, and IPTV STBs

MILPITAS, CA — Sigma Designs® (NASDAQ: SIGM), a leading provider of intelligent system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for Smart TV, Smart home and IP-based set-top-boxes (STBs), announced that Dune HD has selected Sigma Designs’ secure media processors (SMPs) for a variety of its most advanced and high performance set-top box products. Together, the two companies are addressing the full spectrum of market opportunities for the next generation of video and connected media services.

Solutions powered by the Sigma Designs 8600 and 8700 series SMPs include: Dune HD TV Connect Stick STB, the smallest set-top box in the market today; the Dune HD TV-204 STB with native HEVC (H.265) support; and Dune HD IP and hybrid set-top boxes for IPTV applications. Dune HD is a global leader in high-definition media players and connected boxes for consumers and operators, and was the recipient of the ConnectedWorld.TV Best Connected Home Device Award in 2013.

“Sigma Designs offers the best performance at an affordable price point, a key factor in our decision regarding our chipset supplier for our various set-top box products,” said Konstantin Dyshlevoy, president & CEO of Dune HD. “Furthermore, the various Sigma products support a wide range of requirements, from low power and small form-factor needed for our Connect Stick plug-and-play HD streaming device, to native HEVC support for next generation video service delivery, as well as more traditional IPTV STBs.”

HEVC compression is expected to reduce bandwidth requirements by up to 50% compared to AVC (H.264), while enhancing quality for full 1080p HD video delivered to the home. This increase in network efficiency is critical for enabling future services including 4K TV. The Dune HD TV-204 STB supports full 1080p in HEVC; numerous streaming formats, containers, and technologies; digital rights management (DRM) and conditional access systems (CAS) from the leading vendor ecosystems; flexible middleware and highly competitive prices. Meanwhile, operators also have a new option for compact size, low-cost IP connectivity and video streaming with the Dune HD TV Connect Stick.

“We are sensitive to the needs of our STB customers, who need to deliver outstanding quality and a broad feature set while managing costs for their end user equipment,” said Mustafa Ozgen, vice-president and general manager multimedia business for Sigma Designs. “Our collaboration with Dune HD to meet the full range of device requirements suits the rapidly changing consumer environment and enables Dune HD to provide operators with advanced video solutions for IPTV and OTT services.”

The Sigma Designs family of architecture-compatible secure media processors, SDKs and development kits enable fast-time-to-market for device manufacturers. Sigma’s set-top box solutions include one of the most advanced audio/video rendering systems with HEVC decoding, Ultra-HD resolution, and proven carrier-class reliability. Finally, Sigma’s latest chips are targeted for the new cloud-driven strategies with a proven HTML-5 stack, high performance ARM processors, and 3D graphics engines all integrated into a strong value offering.

Visit Sigma Designs’ stand #BM7 at IBC 2014 in Amsterdam, September 12-15 to see the Dune HD Connect Stick STB on display, or visit Dune HD at stand #14.D20.