MStar Semiconductor Inc. today demonstrated its leadership in the STB technology race by releasing its new range of 4K STB chipsets. The chipset family will be demonstrated on MStar Stand at IBC show in Amsterdam.
“The new product range includes some unique features that will enable MStar’s customers to take a strong lead in the move to 4K,” said Trevor Neal, Vice President of MStar. “Many operators want to launch their 4K service with High Dynamic Range (HDR) enabled to give even better picture quality. However until now this has been difficult to do as the majority of the installed TV in people’s home does not support HDR. The new MStar STB solutions solve this problem as if the STB detects the TV does not support HDR then the STB can convert the signal back to Standard SDR signal. This allows the operator to start rolling our HDR services knowing that as users upgrade their TV in the future they will immediately be able to take advantage of the HDR feature. ”
MStar is well known as the leader in TV solutions and has been shipping 4K decoders for over 3 years. This gives MStar a huge advantage in designing a STB chip as it means we fully understand the TV design. MStar has used this advantage to add another feature into the STB solution. If the MStar based STB detects that the TV has a programmable backlight then the MStar STB solution can control the backlight in the TV to simulate HDR even on a SDR TV.
In addition to the HDR to SRD converter, the MStar 4K solution also includes dual 4K decoding, enabling 4K picture-in-picture (PIP) features, plus uniquely the ability to use 4K User Interface. These features have been proven in previous generation of MStar TV chips and allow MStar to bring mature technology into the STB solution.
The MStar STB chipset will be demonstrated on MStar Suite on the Balcony of Hall 1 in IBC this week. MStar is inviting engagements from leading customers who are considering new 4K STB designs.
