Tiny Sigma Set-Top Box Is About As Big as a Card Deck

It appears that Sigma is in no way satisfied with the current state of the set-top box market, and this doesn't refer to the feature set as much as to the actual size of those things, hence the HPAV 8670/2110 reference design.

Set-top boxes are one of those multimedia electronics that quite a few people around the world have at home, what with the digital TV broadcast systems now in place.

Unfortunately, such products usually take up as much space as a full-blown multimedia player, or more.

Granted, this isn't that big an issue for most people, especially when said set-top box has an aesthetically pleasing design.

Nevertheless, Sigma Designs wants to see such products get smaller, or, on might say, make it so one doesn't have to see them at all.

What the company did was create the HPAV 8670/2110 set-top box reference design, essentially a development kit for products about as big as a deck of cards.

It uses the SMP8670 media processor and the CG2110 HomePlug AV chipset, supporting Linux, Windows CE and Android.

HDMI 1.3a is supported (and HDMI port exists alongside an optical S/PDIF), as are HomePlug speeds of up to 200 Mbps and hardware decoding of all common video and audio formats. Z-Wave RF technology is also supported.

“Service providers are looking for ways to cut costs while improving the consumer experience,” said Thinh Tran, chairman and CEO at Sigma Designs.

“With the Sigma Ultra-Thin, telcos and cable companies, as well as any IP-based TV and Video companies, can enable users to self-install their set top
box for dramatically reduced deployment costs. Just as importantly, this high performance solution delivers more reliable quality of service, a form factor consumers love and the biggest ecosystem of interoperable home control products to control.”

It is unclear when this deisgn will spawn actual products, but it is unlikely to happen before next year.