Package Size Reduced by Approximately 45 Percent from the Company's Existing Products
New SoCs for LCD Digital TVs R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG
TOKYO, November 16, 2010 — Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the availability of two new compact and power efficient system-on-chip (SoC) products, the R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG, that integrate in a single package the main signal processing functions, such as video and audio processing, and high-picture quality required in LCD digital TVs for the North American market. The R8A66983BG SoC supports full HD (Note 1), and the R8A66980BG SoC supports WXGA (Note 2).
The new products (1) have a mounting area of 17 × 17 millimeters (mm), reduced by approximately 45 percent from that of Renesas Electronics' existing SoC products, making the R8A66983BG device the smallest SoC in the industry (Note 3) to provide full HD support for LCD digital TVs for the North American market, (2) incorporate enhancements to the pin configuration, etc., allowing the use of a two-layer system board rather than a four-layer board, which contributes to more compact and low-cost systems overall, and (3) comply with the Energy Star (Note 4) 4.0 international power efficiency standard, making possible even lower power consumption.
Demand for LCD digital TVs is anticipated to continue to grow, and there is an expectation that prices will fall while at the same time picture quality improves. Also rising in demand is better power efficiency for more environmental friendliness.
Renesas Electronics currently mass produces the R8J66977BG (with full HD support) and R8J66975BG (with WXGA support) SoC products for LCD digital TVs for the North American market. These SoCs integrate on a single chip the main signal processing functions and high-picture quality, from demodulation of the digital broadcast signal to signal output to the LCD panel, enabling more compact product design and also reducing the number of external memory (DRAM) chips required from two to one, due to their powerful processing capability. These SoC products also effectively lower the total system cost. And now, Renesas Electronics' new R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG SoCs deliver greater miniaturization while reducing both cost and power consumption even further.
Main features of the R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG:
(1) Industry's smallest SoCs for LCD digital TVs with full HD support for the North American market
By fabricating these SoCs with a 45-nanometer (nm) process, it is possible to reduce the package size from 23 mm × 23 mm to 17 mm × 17 mm while retaining the functions of the earlier products for which they are the successors. The R8A66983BG device is the industry's smallest SoC for full HD LCD digital TVs for the North American market. This makes it possible for the system boards used in the televisions to be more compact, thereby requiring less space within the design.
(2) Support for two-layer printed circuit board for reduced system cost
Enhancements to the pin configuration of the package, etc. allow the use of a two-layer printed circuit board in the TV rather than a four-layer board, which contributes to a lower system cost.
(3) Even lower power consumption
Enhancements to the analog circuitry and optimized power supply control provide lower power consumption in both operating and standby modes. The R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG SoCs make it easier to design products that deliver reduced power consumption and meet the Energy Star 4.0 standard of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
(4) Pin-compatible full HD and WXGA versions for better system development efficiency
The R8A66983BG SoC with full HD support and the R8A66980BG SoC with WXGA support have pin-compatible packages, allowing the use of a common television development platform for both SoCs. This contributes to better system development efficiency and reduces development cost.
Renesas Electronics will continue to develop and supply new products in response to evolving market requirements. Main specifications of the R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG SoCs can be found on the separate sheet.
(Note 1) Full HD: Horizontal resolution of 1920 pixels, 1080 scan lines.
(Note 2) WXGA: Horizontal resolution of 1366 pixels, 768 scan lines.
(Note 3) Smallest in the industry as of November 10, 2010, according to Renesas Electronics internal research.
(Note 4) Energy Star: A program promoted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for improving the power efficiency of electrical products. The specifications identify maximum power consumption levels for TVs (displays), according to size and resolution, when in the on, sleep, and off (idle) states.
Pricing and Availability
Samples of Renesas Electronics' new R8A66983BG and R8A66980BG SoCs are scheduled to be available starting December 2010, with a suggested price of US$23 and US$19 in 1-piece quantities, respectively. Mass production is scheduled to begin starting February 2011 with a combined volume of 600,000 units per month projected by August 2011.
(Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.)
About Renesas Electronics Corporation
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
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The content in the press release, including, but not limited to, product prices and specifications, is based on the information as of the date indicated on the document, but may be subject to change without prior notice.