What Nihon Computer does

Nihon Computer Co., Ltd. (株式会社日本コンピュータ) is a privately held Japanese technology company founded in April 1993 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, with current headquarters in Tokyo's Ginza district. The company develops and licenses digital video hard disk (DVHD) recording technology to consumer electronics manufacturers, enabling them to build hard disk recorders, set-top boxes, and terrestrial digital TV tuners with reduced development risk. It also manufactures and sells its own branded DVHDIII hardware product line directly to Japanese end consumers via an online reservation system. The company's primary customer segments are consumer electronics OEMs (B2B technology licensing), Japanese national universities and research institutions (research collaboration), and individual Japanese consumers purchasing HD recorder hardware.

At the core of Nihon Computer's technology is the proprietary NCP1024 media processor, an original LSI chip capable of Full HD 1080 H.264 encoding and MPEG2 HD/SD transcoding in a 20mm-square footprint without requiring external DRAM. This is paired with QuickOS, a custom embedded firmware providing fast startup and smooth channel switching. The DVHD technology stack encompasses SoC/LSI chipsets, firmware, ARIB-compliant terrestrial digital broadcasting protocols, network protocol stacks (TCP/IP, POP3/SMTP, USB host/device), H.264 High Profile encoding, all-channel synchronized recording (up to 8 simultaneous channels), timeshift ring-buffer recording (up to 7.5 days with 2TB internal storage), support for up to 13 simultaneous USB hard disks, and an integrated security chip for copyright protection. Consumer hardware products include the DVHDIII Server (¥198,000), DVHDIII Multi-Server (¥248,000), DVHDIII Standard (¥79,800), DVHD NEO II (¥69,800), and DVHD Slim NEO (¥28,000). The technology has been ported across MIPS, ARM, and SuperH semiconductor platforms.

Nihon Computer operates a hybrid B2B/B2C revenue model. The B2B arm sells technology licenses to CE manufacturers: a full DVHD license at ¥10 million and a simplified license at ¥2 million, each including evaluation boards, firmware (200-user base license), reference designs, and 4 person-months of development support. Named enterprise partners and customers include Toshiba Microelectronics, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), Matsushita Computer, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), Kobe Steel, and eight national universities (Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hiroshima, Yokohama National, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kyushu). The B2C arm sells branded hardware directly to Japanese consumers through an online reservation system with cash-on-delivery, bank transfer, and credit card (via Yamato Payment) options, with fulfillment via Yamato Transport. Consumer sales are explicitly limited to Japan domestic only, while the company relocated its headquarters to Singapore in 2013 to support international B2B licensing. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation serves as the primary banking partner. The company has no public listing, no disclosed external investors, and registered capital of ¥95 million. Masahiro Nagata (永田 真啓) serves as representative director (CEO).

Name

Nihon Computer

Legal name

株式会社日本コンピュータ

Website

https://nihoncomputer.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nihon Computer Co., Ltd. is a Japanese private technology company founded in 1993 that licenses proprietary DVHD digital video recording technology to consumer electronics manufacturers and sells branded HD recorder hardware products directly to Japanese consumers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Video Recording Systems

NAICS

Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing (3343), Computer Storage Device Manufacturing (334112)

SIC

Household Audio & Video Equipment (3651), Computer Storage Devices (3572)

akta.pro primary industry

Embedded & HMI Electronics Manufacturing (Industrial PCs, HMIs, Panel PCs) (IMAGAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Storage & Interface Controllers (SSD/NVMe/UFS/USB/PCIe) (HDAHABAG)

Keywords

• Digital video recording
• Media processor chipsets
• Technology licensing services
• Terrestrial digital broadcasting
• Hard disk recorders

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamamatsu

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. DVHD Technology Licensing: Licensing of DVHD (Digital Video Hard Disk) technology including SoC/LSI chipsets and firmware (QuickOS) to consumer electronics manufacturers for developing hard disk recorders, STBs, and digital TV tuners. Full DVHD license priced at 10 million yen, with simplified licenses starting at 2 million yen.
2. Consumer Electronics Product Sales: Sale of branded consumer products including DVHDIII servers (¥198,000), multi-servers (¥248,000), standard models (¥79,800), and NEOII recorders (¥69,800) through online reservation and direct sales.
3. Evaluation Board Sales: Sale of evaluation boards for product development including SD and HD recorder boards, network recorder boards, and terrestrial digital tuner boards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Nihon Computer develops and licenses DVHD (Digital Video Hard Disk) technology, including its proprietary NCP1024 media processor LSI and QuickOS firmware, to consumer electronics manufacturers for building HD digital video recorders, set-top boxes, and terrestrial digital tuners. The company also manufactures and sells finished DVHD-branded recorder products (DVHDIII Server, Multi-Server, Standard, NEO II, Slim NEO) directly to Japanese consumers, alongside evaluation boards for OEM development.

Product overview

Nihon Computer offers a portfolio of digital video and broadcasting products centered on the DVHD (Digital Video Hard Disk) platform. The core offering includes three DVHDIII hardware models (Server, Multi-Server, and Standard) for all-channel terrestrial digital recording with H.264/MPEG2 encoding, sold alongside a comprehensive DVHD License program for OEMs. The DVHD License provides the NCP1024 media processor, Quick OS firmware, reference designs, and development support to enable manufacturers to build their own digital video recorders. Supporting products include evaluation boards and the compact DVHD NEO II standalone recorder. The company also developed SPARC-compatible workstations in the 1990s and offers System LSI design services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DVHD: Digital Video Hard Disk - the company's core technology platform for digital video recording solutions including HD recorders, STBs, and terrestrial digital tuners.
• DVHDIII
• クイックOS (Quick OS)
• NCP1024
• ロクラク (Rokuraku)

Products and services

• DVHD License Licensing program for digital video hard disk recorder technology. The full license (¥10,000,000) bundles SoC/LSI chipset (NCP1024 media processor), firmware (QuickOS), circuit diagrams, PCB gerber data, sample recorder units, and four person-months of development support, reducing partner development risk to 1/10. A simplified license (¥2,000,000) is also offered for entry-level HDD recorder development. Target users are consumer electronics manufacturers and OEM partners.
• DVHD Evaluation Board Evaluation boards for product development, including SD recorder boards (DVHD-SD-1 through DVHD-SD-4), HD terrestrial digital tuner boards (DVHD-HD-1 through DVHD-HD-3), and network recorder boards. Supports MPEG2 and H.264 encoding/decoding. Sold to OEM developers and partners evaluating DVHD technology.
• DVHDIII Server Full-featured terrestrial digital all-channel recorder server with H.264 encoding. Features 8 TV tuners, 2TB internal HDD, digital AV output, optical digital audio output, USB 2.0 host, Ethernet 100Base-T, Dubbing 10 support, home video server function, and video mail. Tax-exclusive price ¥198,000. Sold to Japanese consumers.
• DVHDIII Multi-Server Multi-format all-channel recorder server supporting both MPEG2 and H.264 codecs, with SD conversion MPEG2 encoding and analog CVBS input. Dual codec support enables flexible recording options. Tax-exclusive price ¥248,000. Sold to Japanese consumers.
• DVHDIII Standard All-channel recorder in client-type form factor. Features composite video output (RCA pin jack), USB 2.0 host for external disk, Ethernet 100Base-T, and automatic backup function. Compact and simple design. Tax-exclusive price ¥79,800. Sold to Japanese consumers.
• DVHD NEO II Compact standalone terrestrial digital tuner and recorder with industry-first support for up to 13 hard disks simultaneously via USB. Features dual EPG types, channel scan, repeat channel change, Dubbing 10 support, H.264 playback, and video mail. 300GB internal HDD. Tax-exclusive price ¥69,800. Sold to Japanese consumers.
• DVHD Slim NEO Pocket-size terrestrial digital recorder with postcard-size form factor, fanless operation, support for up to 13 external USB hard disks, and digital video output. Tax-exclusive price ¥28,000. Sold to Japanese consumers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Development risk reduced to 1/10 compared to in-house development
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Toshiba Microelectronics (東芝マイクロエレクトロニクス)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing technology development collaboration in semiconductor and microelectronics technology, listed as a major business partner on company profile.
• NTT (日本電信電話)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for telecommunications and network technology collaboration, listed as a major customer and business partner.
• Matsushita Computer (松下コンピュータ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistorical collaboration in computer technology development, listed as a major business partner.
• Kobe Steel (株式会社神戸製鋼所)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology development collaboration with major manufacturing company, listed as a major customer.
• Japanese National Universities (国立大学)coreOthersPartnerships with major Japanese universities including Tokyo University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hiroshima University, Yokohama National University, Kyoto University, Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, and Kyushu University for computer technology research and development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Realtek Semiconductor: Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company with strong presence in multimedia, STB, networking, and TV SoCs. Much larger and broader portfolio, but overlapping in the STB/recorder SoC segment and represents the competitive incumbent to Nihon Computer's niche NCP1024.
• Panasonic: Major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer with an extensive DVR/recorder and TV product line (including DIGA-branded recorders). Overlaps with Nihon Computer in the Japanese consumer video recording market but operates a vastly broader portfolio.
• Novatek Microelectronics: Taiwanese fabless designer of display driver ICs and SoCs for TVs and consumer video products. Larger incumbent operating in adjacent semiconductor design categories for the consumer video market that Nihon Computer serves.
• TVS REGZA (Toshiba Visual Solutions): Japanese TV and recorder manufacturer (legacy Toshiba Visual Solutions, now under Hisense group) producing REGZA-branded TVs with integrated HDD recording. Direct competitor in the Japanese consumer recorder and ARIB-compliant TV market.

Emerging players

• Pixelworks: US-based semiconductor company providing video processing IP and SoCs for TV, projector, and streaming applications. Adjacent in the video processing IP space, competing for OEM mindshare against smaller media-processor IP licensors like Nihon Computer.

Direct peers

• Amlogic: Fabless semiconductor company designing SoCs for set-top boxes, smart TVs, and video processing applications, licensing IP and chips to OEMs globally. Most direct international analog to Nihon Computer's media-processor-plus-firmware licensing model.
• Socionext: Japanese fabless semiconductor company designing video SoCs for set-top boxes, TVs, and broadcasting equipment, with proprietary IP and reference platforms sold to OEMs. Closely comparable to Nihon Computer's NCP1024 media processor / DVHD licensing model from a fabless semiconductor perspective.
• Chips&Media: Korean video codec IP licensor (H.264/HEVC/VVC) supplying IP cores to semiconductor and STB/TV chipmakers. Highly comparable business model to Nihon Computer's DVHD license: pure IP/firmware licensing to OEMs in the video recording and STB space.
• I-O Data Device: Japanese manufacturer of digital TV tuners, HDD recorders, and NAS/network storage devices for the Japanese consumer and SMB market. Highly comparable to Nihon Computer's DVHD consumer recorder product line, with similar Japanese-market focus and overlapping ARIB terrestrial broadcast tuner expertise.
• Buffalo Inc. (Melco Holdings): Japanese manufacturer of NAS, network-attached storage, digital TV tuners, and recording peripherals. Direct competitor in the Japanese HDD recorder and TV-tuner space with similar B2B licensing of reference designs plus consumer hardware sales.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nihon Computer