ViXS Systems Inc. announced that ShapeShifter filter is available for implementation by ISVs to reprocess video streams to support many PMPs at very high speeds using the ViXS XCode Series of ICs. The combination of ViXS hardware and software filter can hardware-accelerate the normally CPU-intensive entertainment transcoding function. ShapeShifter filter consists of a DLL and Windows MCE script in modular form.

    "Hardware transcoding has been proven to be the fastest, easiest and most flexible way to move video content from the PC to portable media players,“ stated Sally Daub, President and CEO of ViXS Systems. ”The ViXS ShapeShifter filter expands the power of any video application by making the moving of entertainment as easy as pushing a button - while still maintaining the high quality of original video content."

    The ShapeShifter filter can act as a standalone component under MCE or be incorporated into any Windows application that requires easy and fast movement of video files to portable media players. The ViXS XCode 2100 Series has shattered industry beliefs about reprocessing MPEG streams, with its ultra high-speed, high-quality transcoding capabilities. ViXS transcoding is capable of performing format conversions, bit rate reductions, and resolution reductions of multiple MPEG video streams at unprecedented rates of up to 8X real-time. This permits users to overcome the “one movie, one DVD disk” recording limitation by re-compressing multiple feature-length videos to fit on a single DVD-R in minutes.

    ShapeShifter is an SDK targeted at ISVs who need to hardware-accelerate the distribution of entertainment content to portable or networked devices in their applications. The ViXS XCode Series of ICs have led the way in the CE and PC markets by being the first - and only - single-chip hardware transcoders shipping in both the CE and PC markets with leading manufacturers such as Hitachi, Sony, Dell and NEC.

ViXS ShapeShifter futures:
    -   Content source is time-shifted (pre-recorded) files
    -   Faster-than-real-time conversion of MPEG2 files into MPEG4 Part 2 and AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10)
    -   Hardware transcoding reduces CPU utilization making PCs more reliable and available for other activities such as browsing the web or playing games
    -   Supports all popular media device formats including PSP, iPOD, iPhone and YouTube

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