Entertainment-Quality Video Comes to Networked Desktops as Precept Adds MPEG Support to IP/TV; Enhanced Browser Plug-In Lets Webmaster Customize Controls.PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 1997-- Entertainment-quality video can travel over existing networks to desktop personal computers using a new version of Precept Software's IP/TV(TM) video-distribution application, which now supports 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). , the highest-quality standard data-compression technique in use today. The new MPEG1-equipped IP/TV is ideal for corporate enterprise networks but ultimately could become the vehicle that lets cable-content providers efficiently deliver video content to home PCs. IP/TV is now available as a traditional client-server application or as a Netscape browser plug-in or Microsoft ActiveX control that lets webmasters customize various controls (e.g., audio volume, window size) using JavaScript or Visual Basic Script (language) Visual BASIC Script - (VBScript) Microsoft's scripting language which is an extension of their Visual Basic language. VBScript can be used with Microsoft Office applications and others. It can also be embedded in web pages but can only be understood by Internet Explorer. . IP/TV operates over network connections ranging from 28.8 kilobit-per-second home modems to the 1.5-megabit-per-second T1 links typical of corporate intranets. The PC as Digital TV Judy Estrin, Precept president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , said, "MPEG support takes IP/TV beyond `talking head' training sessions or CEO broadcasts to a whole new range of applications -- news dissemination, video feeds for stock traders, advertising, entertainment -- where the PC will be required to act as a `digital TV.' "MPEG is noted for delivering the highest-quality video images but at the same time consuming a great deal of bandwidth -- as much as 1.5 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. ," she added. "Because IP/TV is based on bandwidth-conserving IP Multicast technology -- the ability to transmit traffic simultaneously to a designated subset of users rather than duplicating packets for every intended user -- it is uniquely suited to bring MPEG video to every desktop in the enterprise without saturating the network." IP/TV Rearchitected for Microsoft's ActiveMovie Originally designed to use any codec (1) (enCOder/DECoder) A hardware circuit that performs analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) and digital-to-analog (DAC) conversion. When analog signals are entered into a computer, cellphone or other device via a microphone or video source such as VHS tape or analog TV, compatible with Microsoft's Video for Windows The name of Microsoft's first video playback implementation in Windows. Supporting the AVI movie format, Video for Windows (VfW) was installed separately in Windows 3.x, but was later built into Windows 95 and subsequent versions. architecture, IP/TV has been rearchitected to fit into Microsoft's newer-generation ActiveMovie, a flexible, object-oriented architecture which supports a wide variety of codecs and, unlike Video for Windows, incorporates MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group (spelling) Motion Picture Experts Group - Incorrect expansion of MPEG, which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group. ) codec support. IP/TV now supports the transmission of MPEG-1 encoded video and audio streams, providing video performance of up to 30 frames per second. (Video for Windows-compatible codecs, such as Precept's ITU-compatible H.261 and Intel's Indeo, as well as audio codecs for GSM, DVI (1) (Digital Video Interactive) An earlier compression technique that provided up to 72 minutes of full-screen video on a CD-ROM. Acquired by Intel in 1988 from RCA's Sarnoff Research labs, Princeton, NJ, DVI never caught on. and PCM (1) See phase change memory. (2) (Plug Compatible Manufacturer) An organization that makes a computer or electronic device that is compatible with an existing machine. , continue to be supported by IP/TV as ActiveMovie filters.) IP/TV can use either the MPEG software decoder shipped with ActiveMovie or, to maximize performance or offload the main system CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. , any MPEG hardware accelerator card with ActiveMovie drivers (e.g., Sigma Design's Real Magic Ultra). In the coming months, as MPEG hardware is designed into PC systems, IP/TV will automatically work with them. IP/TV takes full advantage of Microsoft's DirectDraw support to maximize video performance. As the most popular standard compression technique in use today, MPEG will let IP/TV users take advantage of prerecorded pre·re·cord tr.v. pre·re·cord·ed, pre·re·cord·ing, pre·re·cords To record (a television program, for example) at an earlier time for later presentation or use. Adj. 1. MPEG content -- e.g., movies, video clips -- on a variety of subjects. And because IP/TV remains codec-independent, users can switch between MPEG and other compression techniques, using the one that optimizes bandwidth for a given application. MPEG would be used for watching CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. news, for example, and the more bandwidth-efficient H.261 standard for viewing a broadcast from the MBONE (Multicast backBONE) A group of servers throughout the Internet that support the IP multicast protocol (one-to-many) and allow for live audio and video transmission. (the Multicast Backbone portion of the Internet). IP/TV supports MPEG audio and video as separately encoded data streams, letting the user play audio-only or audio and video programs. The viewer handles synchronization for sessions using both video and audio. Live encoding of MPEG data is supported via the FutureTel MPEG video capture card See video capture board. , which operates with Precept's video server software. Other New IP/TV Features In addition to MPEG support, the new version of IP/TV includes several other new capabilities: -- The product's Slidecast feature, which previously enabled a program originator to switch back-and-forth between views of a presenter and his PC-based demonstration materials, has been enhanced to display both items on the screen simultaneously, in side-by-side windows. This more closely simulates the feel of viewing a live presentation. -- IP/TV video and audio transmissions now can be encrypted to provide privacy -- a key factor when a restricted meeting is being transmitted over the corporate intranet, for example, or a sales training session over the public Internet. -- The IP/TV viewer can now receive transmissions using Redundant Audio Transmission (RAT), an enhancement to the MBONE VIC VIC Victor VIC Victoria (State of Australia) VIC Victory VIC Victim (police slang) VIC Vicinity VIC Vicar VIC Vicarage VIC Virtual Information Center (APAN) and VAT tools. About IP/TV IP/TV uses standard IP Multicast to deliver full-screen, full-motion video to desktop PCs over private IP routed networks and the Internet, with no supplementary hardware required. IP/TV has three elements: The IP/TV Program Guide, based on web technology and accessed via any HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. network browser, schedules codecs, user access and programs, and manages bandwidth usage. The IP/TV Video Server delivers prerecorded digital files or live video programs from such devices as cameras and VCRs according to schedules entered in the Program Guide; up to eight prerecorded video files can be multicast concurrently. The IP/TV Viewer presents a list of scheduled multicast programs at the recipient's desktop, letting the user choose a program to display and move easily between different programs. Pricing/Availability Available 60 days after receipt of order, IP/TV is priced at $195 for the IP/TV Viewer (client), $1,995 for the IP/TV Server, and $995 for the IP/TV Program Guide. IP/TV is a 32-bit application which runs on the Windows 95 and NT operating systems. Precept will continue to support an earlier 16-bit version of IP/TV for Windows 3.11. Precept Software, Inc., was formed in March 1995 to develop and market standards-based networking software that addresses the emerging demand for local- and wide-area networking of real-time multimedia information. Precept's software products provide desktop video broadcasting to Windows PCs over both the global Internet and private IP networks, and address such applications as corporate communications, product training, telemedicine and industrial control. The privately held firm has raised $11.4 million in venture and institutional financing, including an equity investment by Cisco Systems. CONTACT: Precept Software, Inc. Judy Estrin, 415/845-5200 or Ulevich & Orrange, Inc. William Orrange/Janis Ulevich, 415/329-1590 |
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