Media Excel, a leading provider of digital video solutions for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Digital Home, announced the immediate availability of their low cost, high performance, high quality, multi-codec SoftStream ® Internet Protocol Set-Top Box (IP-STB) reference designs.

"Based on feedback from our IPTV and IP-STB customers, Media Excel committed to provide IP-STB reference designs that are price-performance aligned with Consumer Electronics (CE) industry needs," said Mr. Thanasis Iatrou, Media Excel President and Co-founder, adding: "Media Excel delivers the ideal solution for designing a compact, flexible and affordable IP-STB. Based on Intel's Xscale host processor (IXP420), Texas Instruments' DM642 digital signal processor and Media Excel's multiple software codec libraries (H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and VC-1), SoftStream ® IP-STB addresses CE device manufacturers' needs by delivering superior performance and flexibility for low bandwidth networks while reducing total platform cost."

"Our experience with worldwide IPTV deployments is encapsulated in the SoftStream ® IP-STB allowing CE manufacturers to quickly integrate fast channel switching, personal video recorder, closed captioning, emergency broadcast services, 3rd party partners' browsers, electronic program guides, and rights management, for a flexible, customizable, yet complete, solution," said Mr. James Meeker, Media Excel Director of Sales.

Media Excel's experience of IPTV infrastructure allows IP-STB interoperability with major encoders and media server manufacturers selected by service providers and telecommunications industries. "SoftStream ® IP-STB enables manufacturers to significantly minimize the platform bill of materials, reduce development cycles, and provide field upgradeable capabilities, while offering advanced features and services for the ultimate digital home experience," said Mr. Meeker. "In a dynamic industry, it is very costly to modify the infrastructure. Therefore, it is imperative that the IP-STB quickly and easily adapt to these changes. SoftStream ® IP-STB delivers exactly this to the IPTV and Digital Home industries."