Mediamatics introduces first-all software MPEG playback solution for Home PCs; OEMs can, more cost effectively, ship PCs with MPEG playback without installing special hardware.SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 1995--Mediamatics Inc., a key technology provider of full-motion digital video to the personal computer market, Tuesday announced the 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). ARCADE Player, the industry's first software-only MPEG decoder product for Microsoft Windows operating system running on a Pentium class PC. In a separate announcement today, Brooktree Corp., San Diego, and Western Digital, Irvine, Calif., have announced that they have licensed the MPEG ARCADE Player with their graphics controller products. MPEG ARCADE Player brings Home PC users basic, full-motion performance to the PC without the need for any additional hardware investment. It allows 24 to 30 frames-per-second (fps) playback of CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). (ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9660), VideoCD, CD-I (Compact Disc-Interactive) A compact disc format developed by Philips and Sony that held text, audio and animated graphics. It required a CD-I player that contained its own operating system. and CD-Karaoke programming. Mediamatics ARCADE Player eliminates the need for specialized MPEG decoder boards for basic playback functions. ARCADE differs from other, previously announced MPEG decoder software products because of its higher playback performance, its VideoCD/CD-I support and its cross platform compliance which includes: Windows 3.1; Windows 95; and Windows NT using x86, PowerPC and other RISC RISC in full Reduced Instruction Set Computing Computer architecture that uses a limited number of instructions. RISC became popular in microprocessors in the 1980s. platforms. ARCADE will provide Home PC users with an easy way to access the growing range of MPEG encoded programming from various CD ROM formats at no additional cost. Mediamatics believes its software will enable Home PC purchasers to more easily enjoy the wide range of programming and help accelerate the move to multimedia PC applications. The MPEG ARCADE Player separates the compressed audio and video information from the composite bit stream and feeds it to an audio/video decompression module. Next, it sends the decoded data to hardware interfaces. Video Data goes to a DCI (Display Control Interface) An Intel/Microsoft programming interface for full-motion video and games in Windows. It allowed applications to take advantage of video accelerator features built into the display adapter. interface (defined by Intel/Microsoft) and audio data to a 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. WAV interface. From there the signals are prepared for playback by standard "video enabled" (color space and stretching capable) graphics cards and sound blaster-compatible sound cards. A Windows-based Media Control Interface (MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. ), the Microsoft defined multimedia extensions to the Windows operating system, provides a Media Player user interface. Media Player provides controls similar to a VCR VCR: see videocassette recorder. VCR in full videocassette recorder Electromechanical device that records, stores on a videotape cassette, and plays back on a TV set recorded images and sound. control panel with functions such as PLAY, STOP, SEEK, FAST FORWARD. Using the Media Player, users can invoke and play MPEG files on their PC. Mediamatics defined the MCI-MPEG interface as part of its leadership role in the OPEN MPEG consortium (OMI). ARCADE Player has been proven, in compatibility tests, to work with graphics solutions from companies such as Alliance Semiconductor, Avance Logic, Brooktree Corp., Cirrus Logic, Trident Microsystems, Tseng Labs, Weitek, Western Digital. Pricing and Availability The OEM price for Mediamatics' MPEG ARCADE Player is $2.50 per copy. It is available now for Windows 3.1. Windows NT version will be available in Q2 1995. Background Mediamatics Inc. was founded in 1993 to provide high quality, innovative video and audio compression solutions for PC manufacturers. The company's goal is to enable system designers to seamlessly integrate motion video with their current video and graphics products and software applications. Mediamatics offers highly refined compression technology based on its Collaborative Compression Architecture. This architecture employs a scalable approach to partitioning system functionality between the 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. and peripheral elements to achieve the highest quality while maintaining mass market cost objectives. Mediamatics was the co-founder of the Open PC MPEG(OMI) consortium and drafted the Windows MCI MPEG command set, which is now a Microsoft reference document. -0- Note to editors: All trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective companies. CONTACT: Mediamatics Inc. Prem Nath, 408/496-6360 |
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