Osmosys Develops High-Level Graphics Library to Further Enhance Revolutionary EGG Solution

GENEVA, Switzerland — Osmosys S.A., a leader and innovator in the development of open standards Java based interactive TV solutions, today announced that it has developed a high-level graphics library for EGG™, the company’s enhanced graphics engine. EGG-FX consists of both a suite of effects and a real-time engine for animation, making it easy to offer compelling graphics on devices that were previously limited to a 2D world.

With no previous 3D experience required to utilise it, EGG-FX is an optional library that defines a palette of effects, transitions and filters. System vendors can use EGG to create differentiated embedded applications, while application developers can use EGG to create compelling content as never before, taking EPGs and VOD systems to new levels. Additionally, game developers can now seriously consider digital television as a target platform, whilst advertising agencies can grab the attention of the viewer with spectacular on-screen effects.

“When we launched EGG, we pushed the boundaries for what was possible on existing 2D STBs and devices. We have now taken another step forward with added capabilities for effects and animation, further enhancing the graphical sophistication that it is possible to achieve,” said Paul Bristow, CTO, Osmosys. “EGG-FX enables a common ground for designer/programmer communication, making it easier and faster to develop interpolated and switchable graphics applications.”

EGG-FX enables a number of transitions, filters and effects to be attached or detached to images at any time. The capabilities enabled by EGG-FX include:

• Reflection, zoom, blur, move around wheel, fade in/out, and other visually inspiring effects
• Ability for graphics to ‘ease in’ and ‘ease out’ for smooth animation
• Movement, direction, style and orientation can all be controlled
• Effects, filters and transitions can be used in combination with each other, subject to compatibility
• Transitions can be used for photo viewers, between menus in user interfaces
• Filters enable image processing effects – can be used to pre-process an image before using effects or transitions to draw the image quickly

EGG has been designed to ensure that it is easily deployed in the increasingly complex software environments of set-top boxes. Memory resource such as RAM is a valuable commodity, and EGG is very lightweight in memory requirements, leaving it free for other applications. Furthermore, EGG is designed to ensure that it will port to future APIs such as OpenGL (standard or embedded subset), OpenVG and DirectX. Thus, moving applications written using EGG to future hardware and software environments will be straightforward. Additionally, EGG is middleware independent – it is portable across all of today’s HDTV set-top boxes. It works in both Java and C centric environments and presents APIs in both languages. It also operates in a multi-threaded or multi-application environment, meaning more than one application can exploit the power of EGG simultaneously.

“We were delighted with the response we received when we launched EGG last year. It was instantly obvious to all that EGG raises the bar in terms of the expectations of the graphics hardware capabilities in today’s STBs,” said David McElhatten, Managing Director, Osmosys. “EGG-FX advances this revolutionary solution further to offer compelling on-screen effects as never seen before in the world of interactive TV, radically enhancing the experience for the end-user.”