Future video decoders located inside set-top boxes will have to handle H.264 video compression in order to benefit from increased compression ratios and MPEG-2 video compression, to comply with established standards.
Due to divergent market interests, other standards such as Windows Media Version 9 will likely enjoy a portion of market share, according to some Asian publications. This creates a need for a software programmable solution capable of handling all these decoding standards within a single core. However, video decoders capable of processing HD formats are still hardwired because there has been no DSP (digital signal processor) available that has been powerful enough to handle an HD-compliant video decoder.
But there are trade industry reports that Austria-based On Demand has developed what it calls the SVEN (scaleable video engine) chip. SVEN is based on On Demand's VSP (vector signal processor), which is already available on the market and performs real-time processing of video data at HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080).
SVEN consists of a VSP-based video processor, a control processor and an optimized DMA controller. On Demand says its new chip provides integration for MPEG 2, H.264, MPEG 4 and Windows Media Codec, working within STBs and some HD hardware.
