Sanyo Realizes Industry-Leading Image Quality Using Altera Programmable Logic for Home Theater Systems


Altera Stratix FPGAs and Nios II Processors Contribute to Development Time and Cost Savings

Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, January 5, 2006-Sanyo is relying on Altera Corporation's (Nasdaq: ALTR) Stratix® FPGAs and Nios® II embedded processors to quickly and cost effectively build new home theater systems with industry-leading features and image quality, Altera announced today.

"Using Altera® FPGAs and processors in our latest home theater products lets us deliver the most feature-rich and visually rewarding display solutions," said Kaoru Ikeda, general manager of the projector business unit at Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. "Altera's programmable solutions allowed the rapid development of this industry-leading product differentiation which would have been impossible with alternatives such as ASSPs, costly ASICs or traditional processors."

Altera's programmable solutions gave Sanyo the flexibility it needed to build advanced image enhancement functions into its Projection TV and its Home Entertainment LCD Projector PLV-Z4. In fact, the PLV-Z4 received immediate industry recognition by winning ProjectorReviews.com's Hot Product Award and a HiVi magazine's 2005 Best Buy award. Sanyo is demonstrating both products at CES in the Central Hall, booth #11017.

The projector and TV both use a Stratix FPGA hosting a Nios II processor to implement intelligent image processing and enhancement operations that include automatic gamma adjustment, noise reduction, color management, matrix sharpness and several presentation modes optimized for specific types of content. Altera Stratix FPGAs provide a key combination of processing power and programming flexibility for integrating multiple functions into a single device. The migration path to a low-cost HardCopy® structured ASIC for high-volume production extends the value of Altera's product solutions.

"Consumer product manufacturers face enormous pressure to differentiate their products with new features and functions while minimizing development and production costs," said Todd Scott, senior director of Altera's broadcast and consumer business unit. "This is why projector industry leaders such as Sanyo increasingly take advantage of Altera's programmable solutions and why FPGAs are quickly becoming the obvious choice for consumer electronics manufacturers."

See how customers are using Altera products in consumer applications by visiting altera.com/consumersuccess.

About Altera

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) is the world's pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide. More information is available at www.altera.com.

Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the stylized Altera logo, specific device designations and all other words that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Editor Contact:
Bruce Fienberg
Altera Corporation
(408) 544-7664
newsroom@altera.com

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