Trident Announces New Family Of Audio DSP SoCs Featuring Network Connectivity For Internet Radio And Audio Streaming

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Trident Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRID), a leading provider of set-top box and TV semiconductor solutions, today announced its new MAP-X™ family of audio System-on-Chip (SoC) designed to deliver HD Audio and Internet connectivity for next generation home audio, AV receivers and sound bars.  The seven members of the new MAP-X™ audio family complement Trident's innovative set-top box and digital TV solutions by enhancing the audio functionality in home audio products needed to create a realistic and immersive home entertainment experience.

The MAP-X™ family targets the traditional home audio markets, including AV receivers and mini and micro-system components, as well as the fast-growing sound bar market.  Originally designed as an add-on to home theater setups, sound bars are becoming a thriving and distinct home audio segment, according to an analysis by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)(1).  Sound bars provide consumers with an option to improve audio quality and their listening experience, which is being diminished due to the limitations on speaker driver sizes imposed by the space constraints associated with today's increasingly thin profile flat panel TVs.

"Trident's goal is to deliver innovative, fully integrated audio SoC solutions to the home audio market, and the MAP-X™ family is integral to achieving this goal," said Dirk Wieberneit, Vice President and General Manager of Trident's TV Business Unit .  "We revolutionized television picture quality with our industry-renowned ME/MC technology and now our new audio products complete the home listening experience by delivering a truly cinematic and immersive sound experience via MAP-X™ enabled devices."

About the MAP-X Family

The MAP-X™ family of products represents the first DSP audio SoC to integrate Internet radio and networked audio functionality, and is designed to enable consumers to stream their popular Internet radio stations from services such as vTuner™ and others, as well as their own collection of music files via USB or from PC/NAS devices over a home network via DLNA.  MAP-X™ is the first SoC to offer a fully integrated solution that can decode HD Audio movie formats without the need for external SDRAM and also enable streaming audio functionality without having to add an expensive streaming audio or Internet radio module.  In addition, the MAP-X™ family integrates ADCs, DACs, and a digital transceiver into one SoC, compared to the typical three- to five-chip solution offered by competitors.  By offering comprehensive functionality integration via an SoC approach, MAP-X™ offers considerable BOM-cost savings over single function DSP ICs, and reduces the overall system design complexity.  Software compatibility across all family members provides designers with flexibility to choose and add features across their entire product line, and to improve their time-to-market.

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