ViXS Enlists NGCodec to License World's First Silicon Proven 10-bit HEVC Decoder for Ultra HD 4K 60p

Silicon IP now available, accelerating the ability of silicon providers to offer Ultra HD display capability for consumer devices

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, Barcelona, Feb. 20, 2014 - ViXS Systems Inc. (TSX: VXS), a pioneer and leader in media processing solutions, today announced it has partnered with NGCodec Inc. to immediately begin licensing technology and intellectual property (IP) for the world's first H.265/High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) Main 10 Profile decoder for UHD 4K resolutions at 60 frames per second (fps). NGCodec will market, sell and support the ViXS HEVC decoder technology for implementation by mobile and other semiconductor companies. This patented technology is from ViXS' XCode 6400 system-on-chip (SoC), which is the industry's first and only 10-bit HEVC platform in commercial production.

"Mobile video consumption has been growing rapidly, the industry is now at an inflection point as HEVC and 4K content become mainstream" said Dr. Jon Peddie, President Jon Peddie Research. "The need for mobile products to decode and display this vibrant 4K HEVC 10-bit content, while keeping power at a minimum will be a required feature for these products."

The core video decoder design, created by ViXS and offered by NGCodec, has a low gate count, small footprint, very low power consumption, and robust color depth and picture quality, making it ideal to quickly address the challenging requirements of UHD 4K for the mobile device market.

"ViXS has the first commercially available 10-bit HEVC silicon solution that supports Ultra HD 4K 60p content, and we are excited to make the decoder available to Smart Phone and Tablet chip manufacturers to help drive the worldwide adoption of this amazing content format," said Sally Daub, President and CEO, ViXS Systems Inc. "We are very pleased to have NGCodec run this licensing program, and their expertise in semiconductor IP will help drive adoption of ViXS' technology in the fast growing mobile device markets."

"ViXS is first to market with a shipping 4K H.265/HEVC decoding chip as evidence by Panasonic's adoption in its latest Ultra HD 4K TV" said Oliver Gunasekara, President and CEO, NGCodec Inc. "Combined with NGCodec's extensive experience in providing semiconductor IP, we are excited to be offering this new, low power, production proven, HEVC 4K 10 bit 60p video decoder to mobile and media semiconductor manufacturers"

Availability
ViXS' XCode 6400 SoC and the ability to license the H.265/HEVC 4K 10-bit video decoder silicon-proven IP are available now.

About ViXS Systems Inc.
ViXS is the pioneer and market leader in designing revolutionary media processing semiconductor solutions for the broadcasting and consumer electronics industries, with over 437 patents issued and pending worldwide, numerous industry awards for innovation, and over 29 million media processor shipments to date. ViXS is driving the transition to Ultra HD 4K across the entire content value chain by providing professional and consumer grade chipsets that support the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard up to Main 10 Profile, reducing bandwidth consumption by 50% while providing the depth of color and image clarity needed to take advantage of higher-resolution content. ViXS' XCodePro 3xx family is ideal for Ultra HD 4K infrastructure equipment, and the XCode 6xxx family of system-on-chip (SoC) products achieve unprecedented levels of integration that enable manufacturers to create cost-effective consumer entertainment devices.

ViXS is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with offices in Europe, Asia and North America. VIXS^™, the ViXS^® logo, XCode^®, XCodePro™, XConnex™ and Xtensiv™ are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ViXS. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information on ViXS, visit our website: www.vixs.com.

About NGCodec

NGCodec is a startup based in Silicon Valley creating video codec silicon Intellectual Property. The founders have extensive experience developing video codec IP, FPGAs and SoC's. The team is focused on the new H.265/HEVC codec. The company was founded in 2012. NGCodec licenses its silicon IP technology to semiconductor manufacturers and OEMs. NGCodec.com