Microtronix Enhances 1080p Display Quality With Altera Cyclone III FPGA-Based Development Kit

Comprehensive Image-Enhancement Kit Accelerates Design Process

San Jose, Calif. -- December 5, 2007 -- Tapping into the high functionality, low power and low cost of Cyclone® III FPGAs from Altera Corporation, Microtronix Datacom Ltd. has released the newest member of its ViClaro family of video intellectual property (IP) development kits, the companies announced today. Developed in cooperation with Altera, the ViClaro III HD Panel Display Interface - Video IP Development Kit helps high-definition (HD) video display designers proficiently build highly integrated, next generation HD 1080p, 100/120-Hz frame rate conversion television sets or panel display systems.

“Our ViClaro III kit, with the Cyclone III FPGA as its engine, provides a comprehensive engineering design and evaluation platform,” said Norman McCall, CEO at Microtronix. “Using our kit, designers can efficiently develop video processing IP algorithms supporting an array of display applications providing superior picture quality.”

The ViClaro III kit features the highest density Cyclone III FPGA, the EP3C120 device, as well as an HD multimedia interface (HDMI), PCI Express, USB 2.0 PHY, and a four-lane PCI Express PHY. With its system integration capabilities, the kit is an ideal starting point for developing HDTV systems, broadcast video conversion/processing applications, HD projectors or plasma/LCD TVs, DVD recorders and cameras, video test and measurement equipment, and medical diagnostic equipment.

“Microtronix's ViClaro III board allows NXP to develop and deliver the most advanced visual enhancements in the shortest time possible,” said Jos Klippert, marketing director for digital television at NXP. “We can quickly deliver the exact display features that consumers desire when they demand them, while creating a low-risk bridge between major chipset releases. Leveraging Cyclone III FPGAs in this way provides us with a clear advantage in this rapidly changing market.”

Rich Functionality inside the Kit

Microtronix's kit includes:

• ViClaro III HD Video Host Board, which contains the Cyclone III EP3C120 FPGA, USB 2.0 PHY, 4-lane PCI Express PHY, and DDR2 memory interface

• Quad Link LVDS Panel Display Interface Card, which supports 48 LVDS receive and transmit links, each with 5 data channels and 1 clock for a total of 48 LVDS channel pairs

• Two Altera® device-compliant high-speed mezzanine connectors (HSMC) and one dedicated HSMC LVDS connector for adding an application-specific daughter card

• HDMI 1.3 Dual Receiver Card (optional), which interfaces two 36-bit deep color HDMI 1.3 input video ports to the ViClaro II host board

“Cyclone III FPGAs are packed with features that drive video image enhancement, from their high memory bandwidth to embedded multipliers, integrated differential I/O, and dynamically reconfigurable phase-locked loops,” said Todd Scott, senior director of Altera's broadcast business unit. “The ViClaro III kit is the latest joint effort that demonstrates the commitment between Altera and Microtronix to support higher quality, more affordable, low-power video display products for a variety of industries.”

Availability

The Microtronix ViClaro III development kit is available for immediate sale. Please email: sales@microtronix.com for details or visit: Web Store

About Altera

Altera programmable solutions enable system and semiconductor companies to rapidly and cost effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. For more information on Cyclone III FPGAs, visit: Altera

About Microtronix

Microtronix has been in business for over 30 years. The company had its beginning as a designer of custom networking equipment targeted at the TELCO marketplace. The company has intensified their engineering skills on a line of embedded networking products and on providing a turnkey engineering design-development service from product concept through to full production. Microtronix specializes in the rapid development of FPGA-based hardware, IP cores, printed circuit board and software solutions for embedded applications.