Samsung designs HDTV chip device

Korean Giant Samsung has said it has designed a system on a chip device for high definition TVs and for set top boxes.

The S5H220 includes dual high definition MPEG 2 decoders to transmit broadcasts to sub screens and the main screen, and incorporates ARM's 92OT 330MHz CPU. It also includes Samsung's digital natural image engine, supports different modes including picture in graphics (PIG) and picture in picture (PIP).

The chip also includes a 24 bit digital signal processor and supports multiple input transport stream decoder for personal video recorders and has interfaces for peripherals include Memory Stick, ATAPI, Firewire and USB.

Samsung points out that the US Federal Comms Commission has decided that 50% of screens of 36-inch and above have to have digital broadcasting tuners this year. And by 2007, this rule will apply to TVs with screens 13-inch or above.

Samsung, quoting iSuppli, reckons that the annual growth rate for Digital TVs is 66 per cent and by 2008 seventy seven million units will be produced.