Toshiba switches on Linux DVD players

Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) today announced that it has teamed up with digital media processing firm Sigma Designs to develop a Linux-based platform for consumer digital multimedia appliances such as smart DVD players.

The firms have co-developed an architecture for home appliances based on the highly integrated Toshiba TX4938 Mips-based TX System Risc microprocessor, and the Sigma EM8620L digital media processor.

The platform is designed to provide appliance manufactures with a decoder optimised for digital multimedia appliances, including DVD players, IP set-top boxes and digital media players, supporting standard definition or high definition MPEG-2/MPEG-4 and Windows Media Video 9.

It can be plugged into the PCI slot on the Toshiba RBTX4938 reference board, or into the Toshiba AVM49R multimedia reference platform.

Provided in a mini-ITX form factor, the AVM49R is a reference design that includes a 300MHz Toshiba TMPR4938XB 64-bit Mips-based Risc processor, and a Toshiba TC86C001F PCI-to-ATA66/USB companion chip, both running under the MontaVista Linux operating system.

The EM8620L media processor single-chip architecture for next-generation IP video and connected media players features high definition Windows Media Video 9 support.

It offers a wide range of media processing functions for video/audio decoding and graphics processing based on REALmagic HD technology for the highest quality image possible on high definition displays.

For single-chip systems, it features an on-chip Risc processor, PCI bus, IDE controller and additional peripheral ports for supporting other subsystems.

"Over the past few years, TAEC has been working closely with Sigma on the de velopment of a series of multimedia reference platforms," said Shardul Kazi, vice president of the embedded processor SoC business unit at TAEC.

The Toshiba AVM49R Multimedia Reference Platform Hardware Developer Kit is currently available from TAEC at $10,000 per licence.

The Toshiba RBTX4938 reference board is currently available from Toshiba for customers to purchase for under $2,000 each.