As consumers access digital video on more devices, applications for MPEG digital video compression technology are expanding, particularly in portable devices. As a result, according to market research firm In-Stat, shipments of MPEG ICs, which support compression and decompression of digital video, will reach 2 billion units by 2013.
“Compression technology continues to improve, offering lower bit rates and higher quality, as well as lower cost and power,” says Michelle Abraham, In-Stat analyst. “H.264 compression is finding a home in most new MPEG ICs targeting both line-powered and mobile devices.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
- Qualcomm was the leader in the mobile MPEG codec IC market for mobile handsets, while Zoran leads among “Other Mobile Applications”, followed closely by Samsung.
- MPEG IC market share differs among the various types of line-powered consumer electronics, such as set top boxes, TVs, and DVD equipment. The leaders include Broadcom, MediaTek, NXP, Sigma Designs and STMicroelectronics.
- Among the key technology trends include:
- H.264 compression has superseded MPEG-2 in many line-powered applications.
- The Scalable Video Codec (SVC) extension to the H.264 is a major enhancement coming to the MPEG digital video system.
- With the standardization of 3D Blu-ray, multiview video coding (MVC), another extension of H.264, gains in importance.
In-Stat
