Vimicro Launches Windows Vista–Compliant Image Processor

BEIJING /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Vimicro Corp., a leading fabless semiconductor company that designs advanced mixed-signal multimedia products and solutions, announced the launch of its latest PC camera processor, the VC0301PLNV (301V). The new product is a high-performance USB 2.0 digital image processor designed to provide a premier Internet video experience for Microsoft Windows Vista users. 301V has received Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL) certification for Windows Vista at the premium level by Microsoft.

With support from the Microsoft-Vimicro Multimedia Technology Center, originally established in 2003 within Vimicro's Beijing headquarters, the 301V targets both attachable-PC and embedded notebook camera applications. Vimicro's entire 301 series of processors is known for providing high-quality images, and Vimicro's newest processor, 301V, is no exception. 301V offers full support over USB 2.0 high speed and is fully compliant with USB Video Class (UVC) 1.0 standard.

"An increasing number of consumers are utilizing attachable and embedded PC cameras to enhance the functionality of Instant Messenger programs, such as MSN, Yahoo Messenger, QQ, or Skype," said Jun Zhu, General Manager of the PC Multimedia Product Unit of Vimicro. "301V is an image processor optimized for Windows Vista, with full USB Video Class (UVC) support. Cameras embedded with Vimicro's 301V provide convenient, reliable, and easy-to-use Internet video capabilities."

Samuel Shen, Senior Director of the Strategy Cooperation Department within Microsoft China's R&D Group, said, "We have provided extensive Windows Vista compatibility-testing support and resources to ensure our partners' products and services are Windows Vista compliant. Today, we are gratified by the significant achievements resulting from our collaborations with Vimicro. Gradually, with support from local partners such as Vimicro, a harmonious Windows Vista ecosystem is forming."

Supporting all popular commercial CMOS sensors, 301V can process 10-bit parallel CMOS sensors data with a resolution of up to two mega pixels. Being fully compliant with the increased bandwidth of USB 2.0 high-speed protocol and USB 1.1 compatible, VC0301PLNV provides up to 30 fps video streaming at VGA, as well as capture still images at two mega pixel resolution. 301V also has an integrated on-chip imaging signal processor and a built-in JPEG encoding engine, allowing for high-quality streaming video on both USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 systems. Designed to the standard of USB UVC 1.0, cameras built with 301V can be plugged conveniently into any PC running Windows Vista or Windows XP (with Service Pack 2). Users running those platforms can use the camera functions without installing any dedicated PC camera driver. For cameras embedded with 301V that run on legacy PC operation systems, such as Windows 2000, Vimicro offers a dedicated driver.

About Vimicro
Vimicro International Corp. is a leading fabless semiconductor company in China, designing, developing, and marketing proprietary digital multimedia signal-processing chips and solutions, enabling multimedia applications for mobile phones over 2.5G/3G networks and PCs over broadband Internet.