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Harris Semiconductor and Genesis Microchip Announce Partnership to Simplify Flat-Panel LCD Monitor Design

— Partnership delivers complete reference designs for rapidly growing flat panel LCD monitor market

MELBOURNE, FL, December 14, 1998—Genesis Microchip, a global leader in imaging and digital video/graphics processing technologies, has incorporated chips from Harris Semiconductor to produce two new reference designs that provide OEM customers with a complete solution for building flat-panel XGA LCD monitors.

The new reference designs, code-named Maui EV4 and Maui FRC EV4 (with frame-rate conversion), will reduce OEM bill-of-material costs and thus continue to drive the widespread adoption of high-resolution, flat panel LCD monitors.

Genesis turned to Harris Semiconductor for a complete analog front-end solution that delivers digitized output to Genesis’ image scaler. The Harris solution features the new HI5667 analog-to-digital converter (ADC), an eight-bit, 60/80 megasamples per second (MSPS) ADC that delivers direct-IF digitizing at a fraction of the cost and power consumption of multichip and hybrid designs.

The Maui FRC EV4 reference design, which supports NTSC/PAL video input and frame rate conversion, is made possible by Harris' HMP8117 video decoder. The HMP8117 converts the analog signal from composite video to a digital signal, which is then scaled for resolution and de-interlaced for monitor display by Genesis’ technology. Key features of the HMP8117 includes its Videolyzer Macrovision detect feature, Raw and Sliced VBI data capture and output; four output modes; two on-chip eight-bit A/D converters; patented comb filter for optimum color-luminance separation; and rock-steady digital PLLs for color, sync lock to consumer VCRs.

"We're very impressed with the low cost, low power consumption and image quality of the HI5667," said Peter Mandl, Genesis Microchip's Director of Systems Engineering. "And we've also found the HMP8117 easy to use and flexible." Mandl added that the chip's Macrovision support is especially helpful.

Genesis Microchip's gmZ1 ImEngine™ scaling IC zooms the source resolution—without image artifacts—to the output panel's resolution. Advanced scaling technology is critical as LCD monitors equipped with a scaling chip can significantly improve onscreen image quality.

The Maui FRC EV4 can also support NTSC/PAL video input support and frame-rate conversion capabilities, provided by the Genesis gmFC1 chip. The gmFC1 IC converts the frame rates of incoming signals to the frame refresh rate used by the display. The chip tracks the location of each frame to avoid picture "tear."

"We're pleased to team up with Genesis Microchip to provide our customers with turnkey solutions that will help get their products to market faster," said Geoff Phillips, vice president of signal processing products at Harris Semiconductor. "By coupling our mixed signal and analog design capabilities with Genesis' digital scaling expertise, we're delivering reference designs that meet the growing demand for flat panel LCD monitors."

The market for flat-panel LCD displays for PCs is growing rapidly. As the design costs of LCD displays decrease, manufacturers are moving quickly to replace existing CRT designs with flat-panel LCD displays that can deliver better resolution and image quality despite their slender design. Industry analyst DisplaySearch forecasts a 55 percent compounded annual growth rate over the next five years.

The Maui EV4 and Maui FRC EV4 are available now and the boards sell for $1,045 (US). A full manufacturing package is also available from Harris and Genesis.

Harris Corporation's Semiconductor sector manufactures discrete semiconductors and integrated circuits. Product development efforts are focused on innovative "next-level solutions" for the communications and power markets. The company's broad portfolio of products serve many market segments: automotive, industrial, PC computing, wireless networking, signal processing, telecommunications, PC multimedia, consumer electronics, defense and space. The worldwide website is http://www.semi.harris.com.

Harris Corporation, with worldwide sales of more than $3.9 billion, is an international communications and electronics company that provides a wide range of products and services such as wireless and personal communications, digital television (HDTV), health care information, automotive electronics, transportation, business information, defense communications and information and Lanier office products.

Genesis designs, manufactures and markets the ImEngine line of highly integrated semiconductors for a variety of video and graphics applications. Customers include Acer, Apple Computer, Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi, Ltd., IBM, In Focus Systems, LG Electronics, Philips, Samsung Electronics, Sharp Corp., Siemens, Silicon Graphics Inc., Texas Instruments and more than 200 other companies.

Genesis Microchip Inc. (Nasdaq: GNSSF)—an ISO9001-registered company—is a global leader in imaging and digital video/graphics processing technologies. The company is headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada, while its U.S. subsidiary is located in Mountain View, California. Further information is available at: http://www.genesis-microchip.com.