I've done a engineering demo set using one uC to control CD servo & DSP and the CL484 (MPEG decoder) for VideoCD ver 2.0 implementation. But the uC that I used (H8/3726) has 48K of EPROM and able to drive VFD directly which probably the PIC can't handle. However, most implementation in the market uses a 2 uC solution with a dedicated 8051 to control the MPEG decoder + VFD driver IC + IR + etc. All these while communicating with the CD mechanism through a software protocol based on Philips DSA (Data, Strobe, Ack) or some other proprietary protocol. The other uC is dedicated to controlling the CD mechanism (servo + DSP). The CL484 uses a parallel interface and CL680 does it serially. I won't bother with the CL484 if I were you, as it will be obsolete soon. We are in the middle of migration to the CL680 as well. If you need any help, please e-mail me. Peter Tiang Design Engineer Design & Applications Lab Hitachi Semiconductor(M) Sdn Bhd Bayan Lepas FIZ 11900 Bayan Lepas Penang Malaysia. e-mail: tiangcfoon@hitachi.com.my tel: +604-643-8121 ext 2624 fax: +604-643-4190 ========================================================== >>> David Duffy 14/February/1998 02:18pm >>> Are there any CD player/MPEG gurus out there ? I need some help in understanding how/why the decoder/dsp talks to syscon. We are using the C-Cube CL484 & CL680 devices to decode MPEG audio/video. Sorry for the OT nature but our pcb uses a PIC on as well ! Thanks in advance... _______________________________________________________________ Dave Duffy Audio Visual Devices AVD@uq.net.au Unit 8, 9-11 Trade Street, Cleveland, Queensland 4163 Australia Phone: +61 7 38210362 Facsimile: +61 7 38210281 _______________________________________________________________