Ask questions to Sigma Designs insider "kjack"

[kjack]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Wow, blast from the past. I think I remember you commenting on this in late 2005...

Time flies when you're having fun, huh?

[camp54]

Originally Posted by kjack

I got a quote not too long ago for running wired connections through my walls at home...

Using 802.11g/n makes sense, and I can see it happening. One question I'll have to investigate is whether protected content (downloaded subtitles, audio tracks, previews, etc.) can be sent over it or not. But for general internet access it makes sense.

CE companies would also like to get rid of the wired connection to the TV by eventually going wireless for that.

Keith,

Thanks for taking your time to keep us all informed...It is much appreciated..

One thing to add to the wireless option is the Ethernet over Power options...Using the electrical wiring in your home...There are some gotchas, and it is pricier than wireless, but nowhere near the price to have your house wired. Plus the speeds are more consistent and reliable vs. wireless...What are your thoughts there? And how would that deal with the protected content.

Thanks...

-Keith

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by kjack

24p end-to-end. Unlike HD DVD, BD keeps the same frame rates for primary video, secondary video, etc. Makes processing and mixing better, easier and lower cost. That was my little contribution to the BD spec.

That is arguably one of its most important features!! A big thank you for that.

Gary

[Manco]

With the annoucement of BluFocus coming in to assist studios with Test & QA of their BD-J code across the various BD player platforms, will you be working with them to ensure that embedded firmware in the SOC designs are augmented (bugs fixed, enchancements) based on their analysis and findings?

I was expecting someone to come in and fill this void and I'm glad to see someone has stepped in to address compatibility issues. Do you know who is behind BluFocus?

[hollywoodguy]

Originally Posted by Manco

With the annoucement of BluFocus coming in to assist studios with Test & QA of their BD-J code across the various BD player platforms, will you be working with them to ensure that embedded firmware in the SOC designs are augmented (bugs fixed, enchancements) based on their analysis and findings?

I was expecting someone to come in and fill this void and I'm glad to see someone has stepped in to address compatibility issues. Do you know who is behind BluFocus?

With apologies to Keith for intruding into his Q&A, but, Manco, BluFocus offers nothing that isn't currently being done by the post houses and several other companies already. It's not like no one is working on these issues already. There was no "void." It's simply a company offering their consulting services, not really "news." Studios will hire them or not. To make it a question, uh, Keith, do you agree?

Edit: This is a year old. Does the second paragraph sound familiar? http://www.turbogadgets.com/2007/02/...esting-center/

[lemonski]

Hi Keith

I have multi-part question. One of the issues with the current generation of Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) players seems to be performance. Can you comment on what hardware strategies are being looked at to improve disc loading speeds and BD-J performance? Is it a matter of throwing CPU horsepower at it a la the PS3? Or are there other bottlenecks that need to be addressed?

What sort of time frame could we expect to see standalones that offer comparable performance to SD-DVD (if ever)?

Thanks!

[Anthony P]

Hi Keith do you know of any BD recorders in the works? also do you know when we will see some?

[kjack]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

Hi Keith do you know of any BD recorders in the works? also do you know when we will see some?

There are many BD recorders in the works, so I would expect to see some in US by late 2008. Focus for them has been outside US initially since US is mostly a player market.

[kjack]

Originally Posted by lemonski

Can you comment on what hardware strategies are being looked at to improve disc loading speeds and BD-J performance? Is it a matter of throwing CPU horsepower at it a la the PS3? Or are there other bottlenecks that need to be addressed?

When loading a disc, lots of things have to happen before the movie is accessible. There are three things being done to speed things up. (1) faster CPUs with bigger memory caches always helps , (2) hardware acceleration for decoding of PNG images, and (3) optimizing software code in the player.

For BD-J performance, that is heavily dependent on CPU performance and software optimization. For example, BD-J performance on our current chip has increased substantially just doing software optimization.

sort of time frame could we expect to see standalones that offer comparable performance to SD-DVD (if ever)?

I don't know if they will ever be that fast, but all players should reach acceptable performance levels by the end of 2008 or so as the new SoC decoders get widely used.

[phloyd]

Amir has claimed in the past that due to the additional complexity of AVC decoding, more machine cycles are needed to decode it and therefore more power is needed to the CPU (or something along those lines). While I don't doubt the additional complexity for AVC, has Sigma ever noticed a higher temp or current draw when the chips are decoding AVC over VC-1? and if so what about MPEG2?

Thanks!

[kjack]

Originally Posted by phloyd

Amir has claimed in the past that due to the additional complexity of AVC decoding, more machine cycles are needed to decode it and therefore more power is needed to the CPU (or something along those lines). While I don't doubt the additional complexity for AVC, has Sigma ever noticed a higher temp or current draw when the chips are decoding AVC over VC-1? and if so what about MPEG2?

No significant difference for SoCs as they use hardware acceleration for decoding the various video compression formats. The hardware path is just basically reconfigured based on what format you are decoding. Plus, on these SoCs, the video decoding area a small percentage of total chip area. As a result, the power consumption remains basically the same regardless of the video codec used.

[Icemage]

Keith: As always, thank you for your contributions. They are always well-presented and informative!

I have a question regarding price curvature of current hardware. We all know that HDM as a whole has slid down the price curve on hardware much faster than any of the manufacturers would prefer due to the format war. Fortunately, SoC solutions offered by firms like Sigma Designs have greatly reduced the impact of the reduced revenue per unit. I'd like to hear your thoughts on where you believe hardware pricing will behave from here in.

Are the currently and newly announced pricing levels ($199+) in the comfort zone for your clients? I'm not asking about specific units, just an impression of the reactions and enthusiasm you see from your clients - do they seem happier now that (assumably) the price erosion will have slowed somewhat due to some of the price pressure from HD DVD being reduced, or do they believe they can price still lower and maintain profitability with increased volume?

[Anthony P]

There are many BD recorders in the works, so I would expect to see some in US by late 2008. Focus for them has been outside US initially since US is mostly a player market.

thanks for the info, I can definitely understand them looking elsewhere first

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by kjack

There are many BD recorders in the works, so I would expect to see some in US by late 2008. Focus for them has been outside US initially since US is mostly a player market.

How will we get recordable content to them?

Will they be firewire equipped? CableCard for cable access? Only useful for OTA?

Gary

[groovyone]

Keith,

Have you been working toward the in car players, like the Panasonic shown at CES?

I know people will always say why do you need HD movies in the car, and my reasoning is so I only need one copy of the movie. BD at home and BD in the car means bye bye to the DVD.

[56@Yamamoto]

Hello, kjack.
Today Chinease company GOWEEL announced their BR player "G875". Is this model based on your 8634 chipset?

[plee]

Keith,

Kinda curious on the software/firmware side, do you guys have much involvement? Do you supply a manufacturer some base code to access your chipset? or do they come up on there own from specs?

- Paul

[HeavyHitter]

Keith,

Will there be any new Blu-ray players released this year with a Reon or ABT deinterlacing/scaling solution to help SD DVD playback? I know Denon is releasing a unit with the Realta, but that is out of my price range. Thanks.

[BluClues]

Originally Posted by hollywoodguy

With apologies to Keith for intruding into his Q&A, but, Manco, BluFocus offers nothing that isn't currently being done by the post houses and several other companies already. It's not like no one is working on these issues already. There was no "void." It's simply a company offering their consulting services, not really "news." Studios will hire them or not. To make it a question, uh, Keith, do you agree?

Edit: This is a year old. Does the second paragraph sound familiar? http://www.turbogadgets.com/2007/02/...esting-center/

Isn't Panasonic a facility that authors discs? Who was checking their work?
Blu-focus will not be part of of any studio or production house. they will be more like the consumer watch dog giving stamps of approval before movies are released.
there is something more unique about them. otherwise, why wouldn't another houses jump in and do the same?

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by 56@Yamamoto

Hello, kjack.
Today Chinease company GOWEEL announced their BR player "G875". Is this model based on your 8634 chipset?

Do you have a link for this information? I would like to read more...