Panasonic Develops World's First Single-Chip Signal Processing LSI for Blu-ray Disc Players

Compatible with latest Blu-ray Disc standards

OSAKA, Japan — Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Tokyo:6752)(NYSE:MC) is known, has developed the world’s first Blu-ray Disc (BD) player-specific single-chip signal processing LSI (product number: MN2WS006), in response to the latest BD standards. This LSI combines a front end to read the signal from the BD, and a back end to convert this into AV data. Samples of this LSI will begin shipping in June 2008.

By using this product, Panasonic will be able to realize smaller sizes and lower power consumption in BD players compatible with the latest BD standards.

This product features the following characteristics.

1. Complete support for the latest BD standards, and functions including dual-screen simultaneous video playback, high-quality audio playback, and network compatibility achieved on a single chip
2. Creation of a single chip for the signal processing system, through use of cutting-edge microprocessing, allows for 50% reduction in mounting surface area and 25% reduction in power consumption, compared to current Panasonic products
3. Application of the new-generation UniPhier® platform developed originally by Panasonic enables customers to achieve higher-quality software improvement with shorter interval.

This product has been created using the following technologies.

1. Multi-standard video decoding technology to enable video playback for BD, DVD, and CD media, and standards including MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC-1; high-quality audio playback compatible with lossless coding; and dual-screen simultaneous video playback including high definition video, and a high-performance and high-speed graphics engine technology which enables not only 2D graphic processing but also 3D graphic processing or curved surface drawing
2. Unified memory architecture technology reducing about 45% of major semiconductor parts** (including external memories) together with integration of LSIs into a single chip using 45-nanometer process technology
3. New-generation UniPhier® platform technology making it possible to reuse the 75% of software assets of BD recorder, and enabling us to improve our development efficiency by three times** as a result of concentrated development for function improvement only

Up to now, in order to construct BD players with conventional BD LSI, separate front end and back end LSI were required, in addition to seven external memory chips. Since the BD market is now expected to grow rapidly, it was necessary to rationalize the signal processing components in order to realize better functionality and appeal to the hot-selling zone of LSIs.

Sample shipment start: June 2008

** compared with current Panasonic products