April 13, 2009 -- On2 Technologies, Inc. has announced the availability of its ninth-generation hardware video codec design, the Hantro 9170. The design supports video playback up to full HD (1080p) resolution at 60 frames per second (fps) in multiple formats including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Sorenson Spark, H.263, H.264, VC-1 and RealVideo 8, 9 & 10, as well as up to 66-Mpixel JPEG still images.

The video decoder core is also accompanied by a comprehensive suite of image processing functions including color space conversion, alpha blending, deinterlacing and image scaling. Intended for chipsets targeting multimedia devices (DVD/Blu-ray players, HD set-top boxes, mobile phones and handheld devices, gaming machines, etc.), the Hantro 9170 is built on silicon-proven designs.

By integrating a hardware video codec, chip-makers are able to off-load from the processor core the computationally complex algorithms that are needed for playing a compressed video stream and adjusting it for the display. The Hantro 9170 design is also exceptionally fast, requiring under 100-MHz clock frequency to decode 1080p video at 30 fps. It also uses unique pre-fetching and buffering mechanisms to enable smooth operation with low-end SDRAMs. Together these features realize significant savings in power and overall chip design and manufacturing costs.

"This is our fastest codec ever, the result of evolution in our designs over many years," said Jani Huoponen, General Manager, On2 Embedded Business Unit. "Through extensive resource sharing and continuous improvements, we have also maintained the codec's silicon area at a very attractive level. Furthermore, the Hantro 9170 is fully configurable for resolution and format support."