Media Communications Processor

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A Media Communications Processor (MCP) is a type of processor designed specifically for the creation and distribution of digital media. Such a controller or chip is used to build a multimedia subsystem that processes any combination of audio, video, graphics, fax and modem operations. Such chips are often used to support Ethernet and high quality GPUs.

[edit] Examples of Media Communications Processors

[edit] NVIDIA nForce MCPs

The nForce chipset, created by NVIDIA.

[edit] MPACT! chip

MPACT! is an earlier programmable media processor from Sunnyvale, California-based Chromatic Research (Chromatic was acquired by ATI Technologies in 1998, and later sold to Dallas, Texas-based maxpop.com inc.). The processor provided parallel processing of audio, video and graphics. Introduced in 1997, software from Chromatic enabled the chip to perform DVD control, MPEG-1/MPEG-2, Dolby Digital audio, wavetable audio, 2D and 3D graphics and modem operations (3D functions were hard-wired on the chip for the successor, MPACT 2.)

Support for the product has since been discontinued in the past but is under current redevelopment.