Sensio and Xilinx, announced a collaboration that resulted in the breakthrough 3D video processing technology, SENSIO 3D, winner of the CES 2003 Product Innovation Award. Sensio credits Xilinx and its programmable chip technology with enabling the creative design and economic viability of its SENSIO 3D Video Processing system. The SENSIO system transforms conventional home theater into a 3D stereoscopic movie experience that rivals the best theme park experiences, using Xilinx low cost Spartan programmable chips as its central processing capability.
Sensio has met with major motion picture studios like MGM, IMAX, Dreamworks, LightSorm Entertianment and TroubleMaker Studios in efforts to build up a library of 3D movies under SENSIO 3D DVD. Sensio plans to have eight new 3D titles available in 2004 for about $40.00 CAN each. The Sensio system, consisting of a 17x 6.25-inch rack-style component compatible with commercial DVD and digital TV systems -- and the accompanying LCD-based wireless viewing glasses, is based on the processor's ability to alternatively display left and right stereo images and synchronously communicate to the shutters in the viewing glasses. The left-eye image and the right-eye image alternate every sixtieth of a second, creating the 3D effect for the viewer. Because objects can appear to be behind and in front of the screen, or shoot right through the audience, the screen itself virtually disappears, bringing the viewer directly into the heart of the action.
Sensio is among a growing number of consumer product manufacturers to realize the competitive advantage afforded by Xilinx's low-cost programmable chips, versus traditional ASIC technology. Xilinx attributes its recent record-breaking gain to its focused market diversification efforts and the broad adoption of its low cost Spartan Series FPGAs in high-volume consumer applications.
"Xilinx FPGA technology is helping to shape the future of the digital age by harnessing the flexibility of a programmable device at cost points ideal for consumer products," said Clay Johnson, vice president and general manager of the General Products division at Xilinx. "Sensio's innovative application of our technology is a perfect example of our efforts in bringing the digital age to the consumer market."
Product developers at Sensio, a start-up based in Montreal, Quebec, were familiar with Xilinx technology from previous university research. Sensio considered the trade-offs between FPGA and ASIC implementations and ultimately decided that Xilinx programmable chips provided the superior price/performance and quality advantages, plus the added benefit of enhanced flexibility.
"By combining low cost, high performance, and a drastically reduced time- to-market advantage, Xilinx programmable chips provided the ideal platform for our 3D video processing system," said Pierre-Hugues Routhier, vice president of engineering at Sensio.
Xilinx first shipped the Spartan-3 family in March 2003 as the world's first and only FPGA utilizing 90nm process technology. The Spartan-3 platform is the world's lowest cost FPGA with unrivaled price points, starting at under $2.95*. Already, the Spartan Series is the world's most successful low-cost FPGA family in its class with over 11,000 customers worldwide. Since the introduction of the Spartan Series in 1998, the company has shipped more than 60 million devices. By continuing to set new price-density standards for the FPGA industry, Xilinx has dramatically narrowed the price-performance gap between programmable and fixed logic. This has driven Spartan-3 device adoption further into higher volume consumer applications and hastened the decline of ASIC designs.
SENSIO develops and markets avant-garde technologies that offer the most advanced and immersive movie theatre experience to home viewers. This first product derived from SENSIO's research and development effort is SENSIO 3D, a revolutionary video processor transforming the conventional home theatre into a 3D stereoscopic movie experience. SENSIO's head office is in Montreal.
Xilinx is the worldwide leader of programmable logic solutions.