With the industry awaiting the arrival of PCI Express implementations and their related 2.5Gbits/sec. bandwidth capability, ability to attach to copper, optical or emerging physical signaling media, and scalability, Silicon Image today rolled out its Digital Visual Interface (DVI)-compliant transmitters for PCI Express PC systems with Intel’s new 915G graphics chipset.

Because of PCI Express’ features, integrated graphics chipset (IGC) users are expected to transition from the advanced graphics port (AGP) to the serial PCI Express bus and therefore a new DVI transmitter is needed to support Intel’s serial digital video output (SDVO) port. The PanelLink SiI 1364 and SiI 1362 DVI transmitters meet this need by supporting the full operating range of the SDVO input port (1GHz to 2 GHz) and the full scalable DVI output bandwidth of 25MHz to 165 MHz.

Both chips were designed to accommodate the 1Gbit/sec. to 2Gbits/sec. ultra-high speeds required for SDVO signaling from the Intel 915G chipset. The SiI 1362 is targeted for motherboard applications, while the SiI 1364 is geared for ADD2 card applications. There is also a production-ready SiI 1364-based ADD2 reference card, for bringing DVI to any 915G chipset-based desktop PC with a PCI Express expansion slot.

The SiI 1364 ADD2 card has a 2.6-inch x 5-inch profile with either a standard or low profile PCI-Express bracket, enabling installation in any PC form factor. It is software compatible with the Intel 915G BIOS and drivers. The SiI 1364 and SiI 1362 SDVO DVI transmitters are now sampling and are slated for mass production in July. The SiI 1364 is packaged as a 64-pin TQFP and priced at $3.60 in 10K/month quantities. Packaged as a 48-pin LQFP, the SiI 1362 is priced at $3.30 in 10K/month quantities.

“IGCs continue to surpass discrete desktop and mobile shipments, leading the PC graphics market with 29 million units shipped and 51 percent market share in Q1 2004," said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research, in a statement. "Intel held 56 percent share of the IGC market and was the world’s largest graphics supplier with 33 percent market share overall. Silicon Image has a proven track record of DVI reliability and interoperability, and their new SDVO DVI transmitters nicely complement the Intel 915G by bringing the benefits of DVI’s all-digital image quality to SDVO-based PCI Express desktop PCs and notebooks."

By: DocMemory
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