Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced a new TriMedia™ Central Processing Unit (CPU) core to be used in the next-generation of Philips' Nexperia™ media processors. Philips' new super-pipelined TriMedia CPU achieves over 500 Megahertz (MHz) speed with a fully synthesizable design, allowing for highly efficient system-on-chip (SoC) integration. Armed with this high-performance CPU core, Philips is targeting its next-generation of media processors for connected home entertainment applications, including connected high-definition (HD) displays, home media servers, personal video recorders (PVRs) and video over wireless 802.11 network adaptors. Philips' next-generation of Nexperia media processors based on the super-pipelined TriMedia CPU will be unveiled the first half of next year.

鈥淢edia processors, such as the new TriMedia CPU, will play a big role in maintaining the low-power and high-operating efficiency that digital entertainment products demand,"said Markus Levy, Senior Analyst, Embedded Processors and DSPs, In-Stat/MDR. 鈥淭his will be especially true when performing streaming media applications such as MPEG-4, MP3 and various cryptography algorithms. Philips' TriMedia demonstrated its abilities with certified EEMBC scores in the Consumer benchmark suite, where it holds the title of highest score per MHz."

The TriMedia CPU is C-programmable and can support all leading audio and video standards, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DV, H.263, and DivX-5. New instructions specifically optimize H.264 decoding. It supports video encoding into MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and DivX formats, making it ideal for PVRs. The ability to transcode from one video format to another supports the design of media gateway products. Furthermore, HDTV decoding with simultaneous picture-in-picture (PIP) display is enabled using a dedicated HD accelerator. Uniquely, the TriMedia CPU can decode HDTV video while simultaneously encoding an MPEG stream. This allows the design of the HDTV displays with Flash card-based PVR capability.

鈥淧hilips' Nexperia media processor family is an excellent choice for media processing in connected home appliances based on the AMD Geode™ and AMD Alchemy™ Solutions family of embedded microprocessors,"said Phil Pompa, vice president of marketing, AMD, Personal Connectivity Solutions group. “The combination of AMDIt's high- performance and low-power computing and the new TriMedia CPU provide our customer base the most flexible multi-protocol encode and decode solution for advanced multimedia solutions."

"With four million chips sold, Philips' Nexperia family of media processors has come of age and will be the key to providing high-performance processing power for consumer devices for the Connected Home,"said Chris Day, senior director of marketing, media processing, Philips Semiconductors. 鈥淧hilips' super-pipelined TriMedia CPU core doubles todayIt's performance in real-world applications, while preserving customers software investments through source-level compatibility with existing family members.鈥?/P>

Philips will be presenting the new TriMedia CPU at this weekIt's 16th Annual Microprocessor Forum, San Jose, California (October 13-16, 2003).

About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the worldIt's biggest electronics companies and EuropeIt's largest, with sales of $30.1 billion (EUR 31.8 billion) in 2002. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 164,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at: www.semiconductors.philips.com