Pinnacle Systems, A Division of Avid

Company:
Pinnacle Systems, A Division of Avid

Product Name:
Studio MovieBox Deluxe

Product Type:
Digital and Analog Video-to-USB Converter

Altera Products Chosen:
Cyclone^® FPGAs
Quartus^® II Software

Read EE Times Article
Read FPGA Integration Increases Flexibility, Reduces Cost in Consumer Applications
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The current state of the consumer electronics market is forcing product developers to re-evaluate their existing development models. The traditional methods of relying on ASSPs or custom ASICs to achieve the lowest cost are proving inadequate for the demands for rapid innovation and increased product differentiation.

In their Studio MovieBox Deluxe, Pinnacle Systems uses programmable logic flexibility to address the need to lower costs and deliver significant product differentiation. The programmable logic-based approach enables them to reduce their custom logic utilization by nearly two-thirds and integrate several ASSPs into a cost-effective consumer video appliance.

"In our next-generation video-to-USB products, we chose Cyclone devices over other FPGAs for a number of reasons. First, Cyclone devices provide us with the lowest cost and are available in production quantities, both of which are critical for the consumer market. Cyclone devices also deliver the right combination of on-chip memory and exceptional performance, exceeding our expectations for a low-cost FPGA family. Also, Altera offers complete development support for their latest low-cost products, which can be lacking in competitive solutions. With Altera's solution, we are able to enjoy the highest degree of design flexibility while still delivering the most capable and lowest-cost product for our customers."

Bernd Riemann
Hardware Engineering Director