Videophones are scarcely established on the average desktop, but NEC Corp is a whole leap ahead and for the Personal Handyphone System of enhanced Telepoint and for digital cellular phones, has designed a low power video compressor-decompressor for use in cellular videophones. The device uses the H.263 transmission standard to transmit video at rates of from five to 15 frames per second. The chip is built around NEC’s microPD7701x signal processor core and NEC claims power consumption of 100mW. As well as being used as audio and videophones, the phones using the device can be used to send high-quality still images. NEC claims that by using H.263 over the H.261 teleconferencing standard, it achieves better quality even at a lower bit rate. NEC is now designing cellular videophones to use the new part. No details of pricing or availability were given.
