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Royal Philips Electronics today announced the industry's first ESD protection chip to support the recently released HDMI 1.3 specification.

The High-Definition Multimedia Interface is the standard digital interface for high-definition consumer electronics, adopted by more than 400 companies worldwide. Available immediately, Philips' fully integrated one-chip solution provides high-level ESD protection, back-drive protection and level shifting, and is designed to support the latest HDMI 1.3 specification, as well as previous standards such as HDMI 1.2. The Philips IP4776CZ38 offers ultra-low line capacitance to ensure high signal integrity for video formats such as 1080p.

HDMI 1.3 will enable the next generation of HDTVs, PCs, DVD players and game consoles to transmit and display content in billions of colors. The higher speed requirements of interfaces such as HDMI 1.3, combined with the trend towards smaller feature sizes, make additional board-level ESD protection essential for semiconductors developed at 90 nanometers and below.

The Philips IP4776CZ38 chip delivers up to 8 kV of ESD protection in contact mode for 4 HDMI transmission channels, I2C-bus, Consumer Electronics Control, and Hot Plug Detect (HPD) lines. The IP4776CZ38 is equipped with back-drive protection, as well as 4 bi-directional 3.3V to 5V level shifters for I2C, CEC and HPD signals. Total line capacitance is only 0.7 pF, with excellent capacitance matching of less than 0.05 pF for TMDS pairs.

The IP4776CZ38 integrates more than 20 discrete components, helping designers reduce PCB space and total system cost. Furthermore, the chip design and its ultra-low line capacitance enable an easy and relaxed board layout, enabling designers to improve time-to-market of their complete platforms. Tests at leading HDMI compliance centers indicate that the IP4776CZ38 supports even higher frequencies than those required for HDMI 1.3, so that it can support customers' future roadmaps.

The Philips IP4776CZ38 ESD protection chip is available immediately worldwide at $0.97 USD in quantities of 10,000.