Sony STR-GX80ES Technical Background - Page 26

Other New Features Analog Devices SHARC 32-bit decoding DSP Back in 1998, Sony became the first consumer products company to adopt the Analog Devices SHARC processor to a home audio product. In this way, our TA-E9000ES preamplifier became the first home audio component with a 32-bit floating point processor that had previously been limited to professional equipment. The latest version of the SHARC processor is now back in the STRDA7100ES and DA9100ES, where it performs a full range of Dolby Digital® and dts® decoding operations with awesome precision. The Analog Devices SHARC DSP achieves true 32-bit floating-point processing, for exceptional precision. Just as important as the choice of DSP chips is the way it's integrated into the overall system. To elicit the highest performance, Sony positions the SHARC processor on its own separate circuit board, in Sony's "DSP isolation" design. This prevents DSP noise from spreading into the main circuit board. To maintain superb sound quality, Sony carefully configured the DC power and Ground printed circuit traces leading into the SHARC chip. CB Programming The SHARC chip operates at a 200 MHz clock speed, 67% faster than the decoding DSP used in Sony's previous best receiver, the STR-DA9000ES. But the chip is even faster that its clock speed suggests. Because it offers a dual processing core, it is effectively able to perform two operations at once. Theoretically, this makes the new DSP 230% faster than the previous one! ES Receivers v1.0 Page 26