A day after touting new chips for the DSL market (story here), Conexant Systems introduced two new video decoders for personal video recording (PVR) enabled HD set-top boxes (STBs).
The first, the CX2427X, is a dual-channel video decoder capable of decoding two HDTV programs simultaneously, and supporting PVR applications on up to two televisions, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated STB receiver for each TV. Viewers can watch or record up to four different programs on TVs located in different rooms.
The other chip, the CX24500, is a single-channel video decoder targeted at mass market STB devices with PVR support. It shares a common core architecture with the CX2427X.
The devices have several integrated features that Conexant said will lower bill-of-material (BOM) costs, including three universal serial bus (USB) ports, integrated audio digital-to-analog converters (DACs), multiple video outputs including high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) 1.3 with high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) 1.2, and two Ethernet media access controllers (MACs) with a media independent interface (MII). This enables future expansion for networking technologies such as HomePlug A/V, MoCA or 802.11 wireless networking.
Both chips are now available in sample quantities.