NTT Electronics, a provider of digital video, photonics and broadband networking solutions, has reportedly started developing its next-generation h.264/AVC encoder/decoder LSI products that are capable of 10-bit encoding. The company plans to release at least 10 new products by the year 2012.

Consumers are transitioning to HD from SD and around the globe digital files are replacing storage tapes and there is also rising demand to ensure maximum picture quality. NTT (News - Alert) has said that its 10-bit encoding products are capable of catering to this demand and offer even higher gradation compared to the current 8-bit encoding in H.264/AVC compression.

The evolution of H.264/AVC encoding technology has enabled the 10-bit encoding utility to be visualized; and the company said that it has led it to take a proactive step in ensuring that its H.264/AVC encoder/decoder LSI family is complemented with 10-bit encoding as an effort to meet increasing industry needs and expectations.

Shoichi Otake, general manager of NTT Electronics’ 1st Product Group, said that NTT Electronics is the world’s first company to launch H.264/AVC encoder/decoder LSI products with 4:2:2 support for video transmission. This high-quality video compression technology has gained an excellent reputation around the world for various broadcasting needs.

The company has said that the H.264/AVC Encoder/Decoder LSIs for professional applications it is currently offering has support for H.264/AVC (High 4:2:2 Profile) and MPEG-2 (4:2:2 Profile) and also delivers low latency, high-functionality performance covering all professional applications from high bit rate contribution to low bit rate distribution. The solutions incorporate technological expertise accumulated from over a decade of work developing MPEG2 LSIs for professional applications.

NTT also announced that its new 10-bit AVC-Intra decoder LSI will launch in December and the product will be exhibited at the ‘Embedded Technology 2009,’ at Pacifico Yokohama in Yokohama City, as a lead up to announcing at least ten models in the H.264/AVC encoder/decoder LSI family.

The company’s 10-bit 4:2:2 1080i60 multi format (H.264/MPEG-2) decoder will be released next year while the 10-bit 4:2:2 1080p60 decoder 1-chip 4:2:0 2-pass encoder, 4:2:0 1080p60 encoder MPEG-2 TS & MXF dual-stream encoder 4:2:2 ultra-low latency encoder and 1-chip 1080i dual encoder will be arriving in 2011.

In other news, NTT Electronics unveiled the 4-Channel Encoder and Sentech selected NTT Electronics' Encoder/Decoder to cover the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.