C-Cube introduces MPEG 2 Encoder Family; first highly integrated, real-time video encoder for digital TV.MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 1994--C-Cube Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :CUBE) Monday announced the CLM CLM - Career Limiting Move 4700 MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). 2 Video Encoder Family, which compresses digital video into MPEG 2 syntax in real time. The world's first highly integrated MPEG 2 video encoder, the CLM4700 is required to deploy digital television systems, including wide-screen enhanced definition television (EDTV (Enhanced Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards with 480 lines of resolution. All EDTV formats are progressive scan (480p) and provide a sharper picture than SDTV (Standard Definition TV), but not as good as HDTV (High Definition TV). ), 500-channel cable, digital direct broadcast satellite and video on demand systems. CLM4700 products consist of multiple C-Cube VideoRISC Processors combined with one of several microapplication programs to support Main Level, Main Profile or frame-based encoding See encode. in a variety of video formats. "Compressed digital video systems from cable companies, direct broadcast satellite operators and telephone companies are going to dramatically change the way video is delivered world-wide," said Alex Balkanski, C-Cube's executive vice president and COO. "The expansion of channel capacity made possible by compression will allow consumers to select programs for viewing whenever they want, changing television programming completely. We at C-Cube believe the introduction of our highly integrated MPEG 2 encoder will accelerate the conversion to digital video begun a year ago with our CLM4600 Broadcast Resolution MPEG Encoder." Because of the substantial increases in video quality, interactive capability and number of channels provided by compressed digital video, many direct broadcast satellite systems, cable systems and video dial tone (communications) video dial tone - A means by which telephone companies can deliver "television" programs on a common carrier basis and, by law, provide equal access to all. systems will use MPEG 2 video. A cost-effective, real-time MPEG 2 encoder is a requirement for these systems. The combination of interactive capability and hundreds of channels will allow system providers to offer a broad range of new services, including niche programming (magazine TV), video on demand, home shopping Home Shopping commonly refers to the electronic retailing / home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar companies as HSN, QVC, eBay, ShopNBC, Buy.com, and Amazon.com. , interactive programs and viewer-requested advertising. In addition, digital television systems can support wide screen (enhanced definition) television without the complete refitting of television studios and broadcast facilities required to support HDTV (High Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards that offer the highest resolution and sharpest picture. Although some HDTV sets are available in standard (rather square) screen sizes, the overwhelming majority of sets are wide screen, which eliminates . MPEG 2 is an international standard for the representation of compressed digital video. Embraced worldwide by television equipment makers, consumer electronics companies, telephone companies, cable system operators and direct broadcast satellite system operators, MPEG 2 is replacing the NTSC (National TV Standards Committee) The committee that developed the television standards for the U.S, which are also used in Canada, Japan, South Korea and several Central and South American countries. Both the committee and the standard are called "NTSC. and PAL analog formats for transmitting video. Commenting on the significance of the CLM4700, Nolan Daines, president and chief executive officer of DiviCom said, "A discrete implementation of an MPEG 2 encoder could be the size of a refrigerator and cost a quarter of a million dollars. With the CLM4700, DiviCom can build a complete program encoder in a two-cubic-foot box and sell it for well below $100,000. "These low price points are allowing system operators to move from digital TV experiments to broad deployment, making the CLM4700 a key part of the digital TV revolution." Product Description The CLM4700 MPEG 2 Video Encoder family includes two basic products, a main level, main profile encoder for pure video applications and a frame encoder for film-based video encoding. The CLM4700 supports the MPEG 2 main level, main profile in NTSC (480 lines, 60 fields per second) or PAL (576 line, 50 fields per second) scanning formats. Designed to encode pure video efficiently, the CLM4700 provides the highest possible quality for sport programming, news programs, three-camera situation comedies and other pure video programs. The CLM4700 is the first MPEG 2 encoder to support adaptive field/frame motion estimation and DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) An algorithm that is widely used for data compression. Similar to Fast Fourier Transform, DCT converts data (pixels, waveforms, etc.) into sets of frequencies. The first frequencies in the set are the most meaningful; the latter, the least. processing. The CLM4750 is a cost-effective solution for encoding frame-based video material such as film. This encoder is a direct replacement for the CLM4600 Broadcast Resolution MPEG Encoder, and can be used to upgrade existing C-Cube-based MPEG encoder boards. However, it does not support adaptive field/frame processing. The CLM4750 supports both NTSC and PAL scanning formats. The CLM4700 family supports both NTSC (480 lines at 60 fields per second) and PAL (576 lines at 50 fields per second) scanning formats at compressed data rates of from 3.5 to 15 megabits per second (unit) megabits per second - (Mbps, Mb/s) Millions of bits per second. A unit of data rate. 1 Mb/s = 1,000,000 bits per second (not 1,048,576). E.g. Ethernet can carry 10 Mbps. . In addition, the CLM4700 supports the wide screen 16x9 aspect ratio of extended definition TV (EDTV) and a range of horizontal sampling rates, from 352 to 704 pixels per scan line A horizontal line (a row) in a video frame. Camcorders sense image frames a line at a time, and display systems create images a line at a time. The scan lines are the vertical resolution of the system; for example, an NTSC TV signal uses 525 lines, 480 of which contain image data . Customers Customers for the CLM4700 family include major television equipment manufacturers such as Alcatel, Compression Labs, DiviCom, Hewlett-Packard, Japan Business Television, Matra, Nuko, Scientific-Atlanta, Tadiran, TV/Com and Vela vela plural of velum. Research. These manufacturers are deploying the CLM4700 in a variety of systems, including direct broadcast satellite systems (DirecTv, Compression Labs), video on demand systems (Vela Research) and digital cable systems (DiviCom). Other applications include satellite news gathering (Tadiran) and a satellite business television network (Japan BTV (Business TV) Using television to deliver company information and training to employees in remote branches. BTV uses satellite-based video to regular TV sets or IP-based video over the LAN/WAN to desktop computers and room monitors. ). Price and Availability The CLM4700 family is in production today and samples are available immediately. The CLM4700 Main Level, Main Profile encoder is priced at $12,000 (quantity one). The CLM4750 frame-based encoder is priced at $8,000. A SPARC-based encoder development system is also available, complete with an MPEG 2 Main Level, Main Profile encoder design example. C-Cube Microsystems C-Cube Microsystems Inc. designs and markets integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. that implement international standards for the compression of digital images and video. Compression allows digital video to be used in fast-growing applications such as multimedia computing, CD-based consumer electronics and direct broadcast of television programming from satellites. C-Cube Microsystems has its headquarters in Milpitas, and has offices in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Europe and Asia. The company employs 140 people worldwide. -0- Note to Editors: C-Cube and C-Cube logo are registered trademarks and VideoRISC is a trademark of C-Cube Microsystems. CONTACT: C-Cube Microsystems, Milpitas
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