On2's VP5 Codec to be Ported to Equator's BSP-15 Platform

On2 Technologies, The Duck Corporation, an industry leader in videocompression technology, and Equator Technologies, Inc., a leadingprovider of high performance, programmable and power efficientsystem-on-a-chip processors for video streaming and image processingapplications, have announced that On2's VP5 video compressiontechnology will be ported to Equator's high-performance BSP(tm)-15Broadband Signal Processor (BSP) chip. The combination of On2's VP5codec and Equator's BSP-15 processor will be offered on Equator's newTetra(tm) Hardware Platform. This new product is ideal for clientslooking to deploy low bit-rate real-time TV delivery to set-topboxes.

"On2 is striving to be the de facto standard for low bit rate videodelivery initiatives. With its unique ability to deliver DVD-qualityvideo at lower bit rates than other video codecs, VP5 allows clients tomaximize the use of network bandwidth. Additionally, VP5 handlesreal-time encoding and interlaced content," stated Douglas A. McIntyre,President and CEO of On2 Technologies. "The power of VP5 combined withEquator's Dolphin and Tetra platforms open a lot of options forpotential clients, lowering cost for service providers as well asset-top box manufacturers."

"Our highly programmable BSP-15 processor is an open platform thatis ideally suited for codec technologies such as VP5, which utilizesthe performance of our platform to deliver a competitive edge tocustomers, allowing them to immediately benefit from the latestadvances in compression technology," said Avi Katz, President and CEOof Equator Technologies, Inc. "We are excited about this opportunity topartner with On2 to deliver new services at our signature low-bit rateand great video quality."

VP5 is On2 Technologies' newest advancement in video compressiontechnology, containing improvements in quality and efficiency over allother existing algorithms, beating some by over 50% in perceptualquality over a variety of data rates. VP5 is the first low bit-ratecodec capable of properly handling interlaced video content (60 fieldsper second), and is designed to utilize minimal processor power whiledelivering high-quality video.

The BSP-15 processor is the latest from Equator with performanceranging from 300MHz to 400MHz. Capable of delivering up to 40 billionoperations per second (GOPS) of video processing power, BSP-15 chipsare designed to provide unmatched price/performance points for a widerange of applications from high-performance head-end video encoding andvideo streaming applications to low-power broadband video clientapplications.

The new Tetra hardware platform provides Equator's customers alow-cost, compact and modular hardware reference design enabling rapiddevelopment and deployment for a range of applications such as IP basedset-top boxes and personal videorecorders (PVRs). The Tetra hardwareplatform is a modular design, which includes the Tetra CPU board, anopen peripheral interface for add-on modules, and a growing list ofadd-on 'personality' modules. Extremely compact in size, the Tetra CPUboard measures in at 2.75" x 4.00", making it an ideal hardwarereference design for applications that require a small footprint andlow cost.