Manufacturable designs go beyond demo boards, are production-ready and fully supported.
Freiburg, Germany — August 30, 2006 — Micronas (SWX Swiss Exchange: MASN), a leading supplier of innovative application-specific IC system solutions for consumer electronics, is proud to offer a system design approach that delivers qualified and manufacturable designs for production-ready TVs to OEMs and ODMs worldwide. Micronas provides additional value for TV manufacturers through flexible field-tested solutions that address the complex analog and digital design issues of global TV markets, cost-effectively facilitating product delivery within a few months. Back in 2003, Micronas foresaw the need to meet the increasing complexity demands of the new digital standards and to this end invested in IKONVERGENZ. Since 2004, IKONVERGENZ has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Micronas Semiconductor Holding AG. Located in Singapore, IKONVERGENZ develops and qualifies turnkey and reference solutions for digital TV markets.
System-level design of modern television systems is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Manufacturers must meet fragmented, regional requirements all over the world. Analog TV in itself is complex, with different video (PAL, SECAM, NTSC) and audio (A2, NICAM, BTSC) systems varying from country to country. Digital TV adds the further requirements of ATSC or DVB-T in combination with the mentioned analog standards. While ATSC is uniform across North America, DVB-T is a family of optional extensions and variants. Thus, TVs for each country must support various local and regional parameters, requiring overall standardization know-how, time-consuming and expensive multiple field tests, and design qualifications.
“To address these challenges, Micronas offers qualified reference designs to our customers, where IKONVERGENZ supports ready-for-production turnkey solutions,” as Wladimir Punt, Director of Marketing TV at Micronas points out.
Manufacturers can select the Micronas reference designs or the IKONVERGENZ turnkey solutions to speed up their entry into a wider range of regionalized markets. In addition, existing production platforms based on the VCT-P all-in-one solution for flat-panel displays can be rapidly redesigned for DVB-T reception with appealing new features, sharper video and better audio quality.
Micronas, as an independent IC supplier, does not build its own TV sets, so the latest technology is always available to all customers immediately. With its IKONVERGENZ subsidiary, Micronas offers turnkey production-ready solutions to ODM and OEM customers. These designs are licensed to each customer and market-ready.
At this year’s IFA, Micronas will show a range of television products, all based on its DVB-T technology. Each design offers a unique combination of features and performance.
Further information:
www.ikonvergenz.com
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About Micronas
Micronas (SWX Swiss Exchange: MASN), a semiconductor designer and manufacturer with worldwide operations, is a leading supplier of cutting-edge IC and sensor system solutions for consumer and automotive electronics. As a market leader in innovative global TV system solutions, Micronas leverages its expertise into new markets emerging through the digitization of audio and video content. Micronas serves all major consumer brands worldwide, many of them in continuous partnerships seeking joint success. While the holding company is headquartered in Zurich (Switzerland), operational headquarters are based in Freiburg (Germany). Currently, the Micronas Group employs about 2000 people. In 2005 it generated CHF 845/USD 676/EUR 545 million in sales. For more information on Micronas and its products, please visit www.micronas.com
About IKONVERGENZ
IKONVERGENZ is a dedicated TV research and development centre providing certified production-ready Digital (DVB-T and ATSC) and Analogue (PAL / NTSC / SECAM) solutions to TV makers for immediate mass production. IKONVERGENZ iDTV solutions were tested at DTG (Digital TV Group) and NorDig and comply with the D-Book, E-Book and NorDig Unified basic TV profile standards. IKONVERGENZ has also received the Digital Certification Mark under the Digital Switchover Programme for iDTV solutions meeting the necessary technical criteria. For more information on IKONVERGENZ and its products, please visit www.ikonvergenz.com
