Protocom Technology, announced the introduction of the PR818 single chip MPEG-4 A/V CODEC. Supporting both NTSC and PAL video formats, Protocom's PR818 ISO/IEC compliant MPEG-4 CODEC offers high quality image capturing and displaying.

" We believe entry level camcorder pricing can immediately reach $399 or lower," stated Isaac van Kempen, vice president of marketing at Protocom.

Protocom's PR818 is currently in production and is appropriate for use in many mobile consumer electronics applications. Additional features include:

* MPEG-4 capture and display at near DV Video quality.
* Hardwired architecture.
* Flexible audio options including MP-3, AAC, WMA and ADPCM.
* Integrated ARM 922T RISC core and RTOS eliminating the need and cost of a host processor.
* Supports both CCD and CMOS sensors up to 16 mega-pixels.
* BGA packaging, 16.5 mm x 16.5 mm configuration.