Zoran Receives 2007 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Technology of the Year Award for Digital Video & Image Processing
Zoran Receives 2007 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Technology of the Year Award for Digital Video & Image Processing
Market Wire (press release)
COACH Processors Enable World’s First Digital Cameras to Support High Definition Multimedia Interface HDMI
SUNNYVALE, CA–(Marketwire - June 18, 2007) - Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ: ZRAN) was honored at the Frost & Sullivan 2007 Excellence in Emerging Technologies Awards Banquet in Newport Beach, California on June 13 with the 2007 North American Excellence in Technology of the Year Award for the field of Digital Video & Image Processing for the development of its COACH series of digital camera processors
“With its revolutionary integrated image stabilization and blur reduction technologies, COACH processors represent a technology that could usher in an era of full high definition image support in digital video and still imaging applications. Moreover, this technology bridges the advances in both digital imaging and HD television (HD-TV), which allow unprecedented data transfer across the interface of the two devices,” said Jayson Koh, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
“Our COACH processors employ innovative techniques for achieving high image quality, high performance and now, high definition video, while also delivering image stabilization for both video and still photos. The COACH product line meets the high standards of top brand digital camera makers and Zoran-powered digital cameras have quickly gained favor with millions of consumers,” said Ohad Meitav, senior director digital camera products at Zoran, when accepting the award for the Digital Camera team.
Innovative Features of COACH processor
Zoran’s Coach 9 processor technology, which lies at the core of the HDMI-enabled digital camera, provides high resolution still-and-video captures and supports advanced photographic features.
The HDMI feature allows viewers to watch still and video photography on HDTV displays with full native HDTV (1920 × 1080) resolution, equivalent to around 1.5-2 megapixels, compared to standard analog connection of around 300 kilopixels. The COACH processor is the first camera solution in the market to offer this capability.
Another innovative feature is the proprietary digital video motion stabilization technology, which is designed to improve the stability by compensating for unwanted camera movements during video capture with up to 16-megapixel image resolution. Studies have shown that camera stability is one of the major issues among camera users.
Frost & Sullivan Award Summary
Zoran has many firsts to its credit. It was the first in the market for many technologies such as the first single chip IC implementing six-channel Dolby Digital surround-sound audio for home and movie theater applications. Zoran’s products can now be found in over 300 million homes. The company has been able to establish a broad and diverse intellectual property (IP) portfolio consisting of approximately 80 U.S patents. It has also licensed some core IP, such as those surrounding Dolby Digital-based products, to key semiconductor manufacturers.
Zoran has been able to expand its innovation capabilities, and product portfolio, through both organic growth as well as strategic M&A. It has continuously invested in R&D to boost its-house capabilities but it also acquired key players that have helped boost its expertise in certain areas. For instance, in 2004, it acquired Emblaze Semiconductor, and in 2005, it acquired Oren Semiconductor. Zoran’s R&D Department now has over 600 scientific personnel and it devotes approximately 20 to 22% of sales to R&D (vs. industry average of 10%). It’s clear how much emphasis Zoran gives to R&D; indeed innovation is one of the key factors that have helped propel the company with a 5-year CAGR of over 35%. Zoran is now a $460 million company.
Zoran has a global presence and has formed partnerships with prominent international entities. For instance, it signed agreements with the Chief Scientist in Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Israel-United States Bi-national Industrial Research and Development Foundations. These organizations have helped support key R&D initiatives at Zoran.
Over the years, Zoran has won numerous accolades and awards for its products, including “Best Multimedia Digital Camera” by the European Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) in 2006, for its Coach processor used in Samsung’s Digimax i6 PMP Digital Camera and on Time Magazine’s “Best Inventions 2005″ list. Zoran was also on Deloitte’s 2005 FAST 50 Growth Companies in Silicon Valley and the FAST 500 companies in North America lists, among others.
For more information on Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards, visit www.awards.frost.com.
About Zoran Corporation
Zoran Corporation, based in Sunnyvale, California, is a leading provider of digital solutions in the growing digital entertainment and digital imaging markets. With two decades of expertise developing and delivering digital signal processing technologies, Zoran has pioneered high-performance digital audio and video, imaging applications and Connect Share Entertain technologies for the digital home. Zoran’s proficiency in integration delivers major benefits for OEM customers, including greater capabilities within each product generation, reduced system costs, and shorter time to market. Zoran-based DVD, digital camera, DTV, multimedia mobile phone, and multifunction printer products have received recognition for excellence and are now in hundreds of millions of homes and offices worldwide. With headquarters in the U.S. and operations in Canada, China, England, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, Zoran may be contacted on the World Wide Web at www.zoran.com or at 408-523-6500.
Zoran, the Zoran logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Zoran Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States or other countries. All other names and brands may be claimed as property of others.
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