HDTV manufacturer Toshiba recently introduced the first ever television set that utilises a powerful cell multimedia processor. The cell processor used here is the same one that features in the Playstation 3. Following 4 years of research and development, Toshiba is all set to release the Cell Regza TV that features numerous advanced features including an ability to record 8 high-definition channels simultaneously.
No other company has indicated their plans to put such a powerful processor inside a television set. However, Toshiba is betting that the functions enabled by incorporation of the Cell will give it an edge in the growing competitive marketplace. The Cell Regza TV from Toshiba has a 55-inch screen size and will be available in the Japanese market in early December. Its launch in Europe and the US will probably be after the launch in Japan.
The Cell chip was developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba and each chip comprises of a single Power PC core and 8 co-processors. These chips together make the heavy-duty video processing a breeze. Compared to the present TVs from Toshiba, the arithmetic processing capacity of the Cell Regza is 143 times more. The simultaneous recording feature utilises 2/3rd space of the inner 3TB hard-disk when it runs constantly, the past 26 hours of TV on-demand from 8 channels.
