VDC-M encoder and decoder IP cores will support the new VESA Display Compression-M standard for mobile devices requiring increased video compression levels of up to 5X.

MAY 16, 2018 - Hardent, a VESA® member and leading provider of video compression IP cores, has today announced the launch of VDC-M encoder and decoder IP cores supporting the new VESA Display Compression-M standard. Hardent’s VDC-M IP cores will accelerate the development of SoCs for next-generation mobile and mobile-influenced devices requiring increased levels of video compression.

In response to the demand for even higher display resolutions and refresh rates, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has developed a new display interface compression standard,  VDC-M. Like the VESA Display Stream Compression (DSC) standard released in 2014, VDC-M offers ultra-low latency, visually lossless video compression to increase the effective bandwidth capacity of display links, reducing the number of lanes required, and, therefore, power consumption, system costs, and electromagnetic interference. “DSC has achieved widespread success in supporting ultra-high-definition displays, but the display industry is constantly evolving, and some applications now require even more video compression. VESA’s new VDC-M standard is highly optimized for smaller mobile devices, such as smart phones, and provides greater design flexibility for device manufacturers,” according to Bill Lempesis, Executive Director at VESA.

VDC-M offers visually lossless compression of up to 5X for use in applications specifically requiring increased levels of compression. The standard will allow the use of a smaller frame buffer and fewer transmission lanes than DSC, resulting in lower power consumption, even with higher levels of compression. A bitstream as low as 6 bits per pixel can be achieved for high-resolution HDR content while maintaining visually lossless picture quality. VDC-M has been adopted into the  newly-released MIPI Display Serial Interfaceâ„  2 (MIPI DSI-2) v1.1 specification and is designed for next-generation mobile and mobile-influenced devices using MIPI DSI-2 display interfaces, such as mobile phones, tablets, and AR/VR products.

“VESA’s newest compression standard will enable designers to push the boundaries in terms of display resolutions and frame rates supported,” explains Alain Legault, VP IP Products at Hardent. “VDC-M is a highly sophisticated video compression algorithm, and Hardent’s VDC-M IP cores are designed to support designers with a ready-made solution to quickly adopt the standard in their next SoC design.” Hardent’s VDC-M  encoder and  decoder IP cores support all VDC-M encoding/decoding mechanisms and can be tailored to meet the design pixel throughput requirements of each individual customer.

Hardent’s video compression experts will be present at the I-Zone exhibit area during Display Week 2018 (section 347, table 11) to discuss VDC-M and the latest developments in display technology. For more information about VDC-M and Hardent’s VDC-M IP cores, visit  Hardent’s website.