New SACD/DVD Chipsets

FYI:

ESS Technology Licenses Philips SACD For Its Vibratto Single-Chip Line - 1/21/2002
ESS Technology has obtained a license from Philips to incorporate the new Super Audio CD (SACD) format into ESS chips. ESS intends to add SACD capability to its Vibratto DVD single-chip solution family. ESS plans to introduce SACD-enabled chips in the second quarter of 2002. Super Audio CD is a new generation audio storage and reproduction technology developed jointly by Philips and Sony Corporation.

SACD players are becoming popular in the worldwide market because they are designed to provide higher quality of audio and there are more published titles becoming available. The technology for SACD is called Direct Stream Digital (DSD), which simplifies the recording and playback mechanism and results in better audio frequency response and dynamic range. DSD technology increases the resolution of music by more closely following the original waveform of the music and it reproduces music that is remarkably pure and faithful to the original waveform when played back.

Super Audio CD can accommodate 2-channel stereo music, as well as up to 6-channel audio with text and image data. It is backward compatible with the older Audio CD format. SACD titles can be recorded in a hybrid format, which is able to playback on regular CD players.

Patrick Ang, executive vice president and COO at ESS Technology stated, "ESS is excited once again to be able to bring additional capabilities for DVD players to the market with the incorporation of the new SACD format in our Vibratto DVD chips. This additional functionality is one more example of why we believe DVD players will become the key multi-function platform for digital home entertainment."

CONTACT: http://www.esstech.com

 

ESS has been in just about all of the Apex DVD players. They're going to be in more players in the future.