LAS VEGAS, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 2006 International CES -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, today announced the industry's first high definition (HD) audio/video decoder chip that is fully compliant with the emerging Blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc formats. Compliance with Blu-ray and HD DVD formats permits the recording and playback of high definition video on blue laser-based optical disc media and drives. Broadcom's latest high definition decoder chip enables a new generation of consumer electronics devices that can decode compressed HD video stored on Blu-ray or HD DVD formatted discs.

"The worldwide adoption rate of large-screen HDTV sets by consumers has increased significantly over the last year," said Michelle Abraham, Principal Analyst at In-Stat. "There is now an enormous opportunity for consumer electronics manufacturers and Hollywood studios to supply consumers with high- definition media players and movies. As a result, we anticipate strong movie title and media player introductions in 2006."

Announced today is the Broadcom BCM7411D HD A/V decoder chip. The new chip supports H.264 (also known at MPEG-4 Part 10/Advanced Video Coding (AVC)) and VC-1 (SMPTE 421M), the SMPTE standard based on Microsoft Windows Media Video 9. Both compression standards are mandatory for Blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc formats. The BCM7411D also supports high definition MPEG-2 decoding and provides full backwards compatibility for current DVD video titles as well as new HD DVD titles that may be authored in an MPEG-2 format. A single-chip high definition decoder, supporting all three compression standards, enables manufacturers to build a new generation of media players that support both high definition optical discs as well as existing DVD video titles.