Parrot Faurecia supplies European car maker with in-car TV reception

Parrot Faurecia Automotive supplies premium European car maker with in-car TV reception solution

PARIS — Parrot Faurecia Automotive, a leader in infotainment and connectivity solutions, is proud to announce that its Media Center solution has been selected by a premium European car maker as a line-fit option. The Media Center entered mass production in early 2017 for the European, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean markets.

This standalone ECU is the next generation automotive set-top box. It includes a worldwide TV tuner, an Ethernet router and a multimedia server. The Media Center can receive media content (photo, audio & video) from multiple sources (live TV signal, USB flash drive, vehicle cameras) and stream it through Wi-Fi to consumer tablets (up to 8 devices can be connected at the same time) or via Ethernet to the head unit. The rear passengers can enjoy the content of their choosing via an Android or iOS app, and can even watch the same content simultaneously and echo free thanks to Cinemo’s Distributed Playback™.

Thanks to its four Parrot-made Octopus 3 tuners and demodulators, the Media Center is able to receive worldwide digital TV standards: DVB-T, DVB-T2, DTMB, ISDB-T full-seg, CMMB, ISDB-T 1-seg and T-DMB. The four antennas handle MRC diversity and can thereby recombine the signal to ensure best-in-class TV reception – even at speeds above 150 km/h (depending on the standard). Additionally, the Octopus 3 chips can perform continuous background scanning enabling a constant update of the Electronic Program Guide while maintaining reception of the current channel. With safety as a prime concern for in-car infotainment, Parrot Faurecia Automotive implemented an anti-distracted driving strategy to prevent any unsafe situation.

At the heart of the Media Center lies the Parrot P7 multimedia processor. Based on a dual-core Cortex-A9, its hardware decoding engine is able to decode full HD video encoded in any used format in broadcast (MPEG2/4, AVS, H.264, etc.). The Media Center overcomes the complexity and worldwide diversity of video codecs as it can transcode any video stream into a single-format output, that is easily decoded by any modern monitor (H.264).

“Our Media Center enables rear passengers to make the most of their ride and enjoy all kinds of multimedia content on their tablets, including HD TV at very high speeds. We are proud to bring this unique rear seat entertainment solution to the market”, says Jean-Luc Tété, CEO at Parrot Faurecia Automotive.