DivX and NEC Electronics today announced a multi-year licensing agreement covering the integration of DivX Plus HD technology into NEC Electronics' 'Enhanced Multi-Media Architecture' (EMMATM). NEC Electronics' EMMA chips are designed to power next-generation Blu-ray players, digital televisions (DTVs) and set-top boxes.

Only DivX Plus HD Certified devices support playback of DivX Plus content (H.264 video with AAC audio in an MKV file container) created with DivX 7 software, while also supporting previous versions of DivX video up to 1080p and Hollywood content in the DivX format. Available on www.divx.com, DivX 7 software enables DivX Plus content creation.

NEC Electronics is actively promoting EMMA chips for digital audio/visual (AV) appliances as a strategic business segment. Having released world's first digital broadcasting STB system-on-a-chip (SoC) in 1998 under the brand name "EMMA", the company has built a formidable range of successful AV SoC devices since then covering three main areas - STBs, digital TVs and DVD recorders.

"Partnering with DivX enables us to incorporate their latest DivX H.264 digital video technology into our state-of-the-art EMMA chips and provide added value to our customers," said Masao Hirasawa, general manager of the SoC Systems Division, NEC Electronics Corporation. "With these new chips, our consumer electronics manufacturer customers will be able to offer Blu-ray players, DTVs and set-top boxes that support DivX Plus HD video playback up to 1080p."

NEC Electronics intends to actively utilize the DivX technology and extend it to the company's future EMMA products.