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.

Examples of Media Communications Processors

NVIDIA nForce MCPs

The nForce chipset, created by NVIDIA, was designed for use with systems equipped with Athlon 64 processors.

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.

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