ViXS Systems Inc., the leading developer of video processing solutions, announced today that XCode 3000 series, the world's most advanced MPEG4 AVC (MPEG4 Part 10/H.264) Transcoder/Encoder/Decoder System-on-a-Chip (SoC) has been selected by Sharp for three new Blu-Ray Disc (BD) Recorder products: BD-HDW30, BD-HDW25, and BD-HDW22. The demand for BD recorders has increased significantly, as consumers look for products with features such as extended HD recording hours and BD authoring.

ViXS Systems enables leading consumer electronic (CE) manufacturers to develop advanced BD products with true differentiation, with XCode 3000's advanced real-time High-Definition (HD) transcoding, HD decoding and HD encoding. The XCode 3000 features real-time HD MPEG2 - HD MPEG4 AVC transcoding for dramatic bit rate reduction, while retaining the original content resolution and video quality. Sharp is able to utilize this transcode feature to convert HD MPEG2 ISDB-T/BS/CS broadcast streams to HD MPEG4 AVC for storage at 1/2, 1/3, and an astonishing 1/5 options. With XCode 3000, Sharp BD-HDW30 provides up to 450 hours of HD video content storage on a 1Terabyte hard disk drive. The players can also keep important program data links such as Data Broadcasting, Closed Caption information embedded in the original broadcast stream, and leaving 5.1ch AAC audio surround-sound data intact. Overall, these features provide a playback experience that matches the original live broadcast.

The XCode Series of ICs have led the way by being the first -- and currently only -- single-chip hardware MPEG/AVC encoder, decoder, transcoder and transcryptor SoC with highly integrated connectivity, shipping with leading manufacturers in both the CE and PC market spaces. The availability of XCode 3000 allows manufacturers the unique opportunity to build products that provide consumers with the ability to quickly convert video content, while keeping it secure, for various CE devices, like PVR, NAS, STB and PMP locally or over a broad spectrum of IP networks. Consumers will also have the ability to manage user-generated video content, to watch TV remotely, to time-shift their favorite TV shows, to distribute video over the internet for place-shifting, and to record multiple TV programs simultaneously.

The XCode 3000 HD transcoding/encoding/decoding, dense peripheral integration and powerful multi-processor architecture make it ideal for the next generation of Blu-Ray Disc Recorder products. As a result, Sharp's BD-HDW30 model has already won the Gold Award in the highly coveted Japanese Visual Grand Prix Summer 2008 award, for excellence in the Digital Recorder product genre.

Sally Daub, President and CEO of ViXS Systems, said: "The XCode 3000 series provides our customers such as Sharp the industry's most advanced video processing solution available today for BD Recorder products. With Sharp's inherent drive to develop leading edge Blu-Ray products, ViXS was able to provide the hardware and software solution to assist Sharp to be the leader in the Blu-Ray recorder market."

About ViXS Systems Inc.

ViXS Systems Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company enabling advanced video processing technologies for top-tier Consumer Electronic (CE) and Set-Top-Box (STB) companies. The company has developed advanced video codecs with unprecedented capabilities for processing, managing, protecting and distributing broadcast-quality video. ViXS supplies IC solutions and full production reference designs to the world's top CE and STB manufacturers, OEMs and ODMs. ViXS XCode video processors are deployed worldwide in a variety of designs such as IPTV/cable set-top boxes, multimedia PC boards, digital TVs, PVRs, and Blu-ray products.

Unique video technologies developed by ViXS, such as encoding, transcoding and decoding, provide manufacturers with the necessary feature differentiators they need to become leaders in their respective markets. An additional ingredient for the success of these products is ViXS' support of worldwide Conditional Access (CA) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) whereby one product platform can support worldwide coverage. To date, ViXS has issued and filed over 100 patents. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, ViXS is a global company with offices located worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.vixs.com.