STMicroelectronics’ UltraHD Video Processor Upgrades 4K Streaming in Synology NAS

STMicroelectronics NV and Synology Inc. announced that ST’s HD and UltraHD multimedia server-box platform (STiH412) has been selected for Synology’s DS216play NAS server for homes and businesses.

According to Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) ^[1], the global market for NAS devices is projected to reach $7.0 billion by 2017, with the growth primarily driven by the increase in the number of home and small-business networks, continued data explosion, and the growing need for backup and archiving.

“Streaming multimedia content is one of the many things Synology NAS excels at, backed by our support of an extensive range of destinations: mobile devices, players, and TVs. The advent of 4K, however, poses a challenge to some of them due to the high processing power required for playing or transcoding,” said Jones Tsai, director, hardware design, Synology. “ST’s capable, cost-effective 4K transcoding solution has enabled us to bring to users an ideal home server that’s ready for the 4K future.“

“The cooperation with Synology is a successful step for ST in the area of NAS, an emerging market with high growth potential,” said Kelvin Wong, director, digital product group, greater China and South Asia region, STMicroelectronics. “Our STiH412 SoC solution help Synology deliver an even more seamless and high-quality multimedia-streaming experience, boosting the deployment of NAS technology and increasing market penetration.”

The DiskStation DS216play is a multimedia-optimized NAS server. It features real-time 4K H.265 as well as 1080p H.264/H265 video transcoding capabilities, allowing users to stream 4K digital TV and movies to digital media players, mobile handsets, computers, and Smart TVs without worrying about supported formats. Equipped with a dual-core 1.5 GHz CPU and 1GB RAM, DS216play delivers an average of 107MB/s reading and 91MB/s writing speeds under RAID-1 configuration in a Windows environment. The built-in floating-point unit further enhances the user experience for multimedia enjoyment and thumbnail generation. The DS216play consumes only 15 watts in access and 6.8 watts during disk hibernation, hence can be an energy-efficient replacement for a home-theater PC (HTPC).

The STiH412 System-on-Chip in STMicroelectronics’ ARM-based ‘Monaco’ family provides a full-featured solution for multi-HD and UltraHD IP set-top boxes and server-box applications. The SoC supports integrated broadcast and broadband services, combined with the latest set-top-box middleware and broadband software solutions. ST’s Faroudja Transcode Engine delivers best-in-class transcoding capabilities for multi-screen streaming across consumer and handheld devices. This allows users to benefit from optimized network bandwidth, while offering an excellent QoS throughout the home.

^[1] NAS Market to Reach $7.0 Billion by 2017