Chrontel Offers Advanced HDMI(TM) CEC Chip

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chrontel (www.chrontel.com), a leading provider of video interface technologies, today announced a new HDMI™ CEC (Consumer Electronic Control) device, the CH7323. The CH7323 adds CEC functionality to digital TVs, PCs, video recorders and other A/V products that support the popular HDMI standard. The CH7323, the second device in Chrontel’s family of CEC ICs, incorporates several advanced features that reduce system complexity, cost and development time.

“Chrontel developed one of the world’s first stand-alone CEC chips, and now we offer this advanced device based on customer requirements for ease-of-design”

CEC channel wiring is a mandatory component of the HDMI specification. With CEC capability embedded into consumer electronics, viewers can control multiple HDMI-linked devices with a single remote control, enhancing the user experience. The new CH7323 integrates multiple pre-programmed hardware interrupt lines so that standard control commands like Stop, Pause, Rewind and Eject can be directly accessed without delay or extra software development. The CH7323 also has advanced control options that handle additional CEC commands, including audio control.

"Chrontel developed one of the world’s first stand-alone CEC chips, and now we offer this advanced device based on customer requirements for ease-of-design," said Dr. David Soo, Chrontel President and CEO. "With the proliferation of HDMI, CEC is becoming increasingly important to CE systems."

Many A/V products use MPEG decoders or DTV ICs that have internal HDMI transmitters. The CH7323 allows such systems to add CEC functionality without the cost of an additional, redundant HDMI-CEC transmitter and without a CPU for CEC message processing. The CH7323 can also be coupled with stand-alone HDMI transmitters that do not integrate CEC capability.

The CH7323 can act as either a master or slave, allowing its host A/V product to be controlled by its own remote control or the remote of another A/V product that is connected via HDMI. In addition to its standard, pre-programmed commands, the CH7323 can also be customized to support vendor-specific commands.

The CH7323 is compliant with HDMI 1.3a. CEC-compliant consumer products are available from leading global CE manufacturers. Leveraging HDMI cable, CEC-compliant devices are capable of interconnecting with any other CEC product from different manufacturers.

Pricing and Availability

Chrontel CH7323 samples are currently available, and production volumes will be available in October 2008. Its sister device, CH7322B, a 16-pin, lead-free SSOP is backward compatible with the Chrontel previous CEC device. The CH7323 is a 24-pin SSOP and the price is at $1.50 in 10,000 piece quantities.

Additional information about all Chrontel products can be found on the web at http://www.chrontel.com/products.

About Chrontel, Inc.

Founded in 1986, privately held Chrontel is a leading supplier of video interface ICs and technologies to computer manufacturers worldwide. The company's innovations include the world's first VGA-to-TV encoder. Chrontel video display chips are incorporated into reference designs offered by many microprocessor and graphics processor vendors. The company currently offers the industry's most complete product line of video interface ICs for notebook and desktop computers, and its components can be found in PCs sold by dozens of leading manufacturers. Additional information about Chrontel can be found on its website: www.chrontel.com.

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