Minerva Systems Introduces Digital Video Disc -- DVD -- Video Encoding Solution.AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 1996--Minerva Systems, the leader in MPEG-based digital video publishing systems, today introduced the Compressionist 250, the first commercial solution for the creation of high-quality Digital Video Disc See DVD. Digital Video Disc - Digital Versatile Disc (DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. ) video assets. With the Compressionist 250, Minerva is targeting the post-production facilities and film and entertainment studios who are preparing DVD titles for release this fall. Leading post-production facilities such as Crest National Videotape and All Post, Inc. have selected the Minerva Compressionist 250 as their DVD video encoding solution. A consortium of consumer electronics and entertainment companies announced in September of 1995 a common DVD format. DVD players are expected to be available commercially in late 1996. The DVD format expands the capacity of 5-inch discs to 4.7 Gigabytes -- or 133 minutes of high-quality MPEG-2 compressed digital video and AC-3 or MPEG-2 surround sound audio with multiple language sub-titles on a single-sided version of the back-to-back bonded disc. The Compressionist 250, based on C-Cube Microsystems' VLSI VLSI: see integrated circuit. (1) (Very Large Scale Integration) Between 100,000 and one million transistors on a chip. See SSI, MSI, LSI and ULSI. (2) (VLSI Technology, Inc., Tempe, AZ, www.semiconductors. processors, offers both Constant Bit Rate (CBR (1) (Computer-Based Reference) Reference materials accessible by computer in order to help people do their jobs quicker. For example, this database on disk! (2) (Constant Bit Rate) A uniform transmission rate. ) and Variable Bit Rate (VBR (1) See MP3 VBR. (2) (Variable Bit Rate) Refers to a communications or computer channel that changes its transmission speed based on any number of criteria. ) 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 encoding technology combined with Minerva's unique video pre-processing and control software tools. Minerva's DVD encoding system also supports leading third-party AC-3 and MPEG-2 audio encoders, and DVD authoring and disc formatting tools. To provide users with the highest quality output, the Compressionist 250's pre-processing subsystem features noise reduction tools optimized specifically for MPEG compression. When encoding film-originated content for 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. delivery, the Compressionist's inverse telecine feature accurately restores the incoming video's 24 frames per second during the encoding process. "High-throughput professional video encoding solutions are necessary to create DVD titles in commercial quantities," said Mauro Bonomi, Minerva founder 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. . "The Compressionist 250 offers a very productive environment for generating the highest-quality video for DVD publishing." "This is a very important announcement in the advancement of the DVD industry -- pervasive content is the key to rapidly kick-starting this promising new consumer market." said Alex Daly, Vice President of Marketing at C-Cube Microsystems. "C-Cube has been quietly working with our partners to deliver high quality cost-effective DVD content creation tools. Minerva's solution is the first such tool to come to market that makes use of our Emmy award-winning MPEG-2 video 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. compression technology and our new VBR encoding capability." The Compressionist 250's application control software, Minerva Studio(TM), provides an easy-to-use interface for both single-pass and multi-pass MPEG-2 VBR encoding. In addition, the single-pass encoding mode provides very good image quality and superior productivity. In multi-pass mode, the Compressionist 250 first profiles the video sequence by gathering statistics and determines the optimum allocation of the available bits to the compressed sequence. In the second pass, the Minerva encoder performs real-time encoding while controlling the bit rate according to the bit allocation strategy determined in the first pass. Optionally, Minerva Studio control software enables users to optimize and re-encode the video source based on their artistic judgment. Multi-pass encoding yields superior image quality. The Compressionist 250 supports D1, YUV The color encoding system used for analog television worldwide (NTSC, PAL and SECAM). The YUV color space (color model) differs from RGB, which is what the camera captures and what humans view. , S-Video and composite video input and video resolutions up to the CCIR See ITU. 601 digital standard for NTSC (720 x 240 at 60 fields per second) and PAL (720 x 288 at 50 fields per second) and variable compressed data rates ranging from 2 to 10 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. . Pricing and Availability The Compressionist 250 includes a high performance video capture and encoding engine, a PowerPC-based host system, and Minerva Studio application control software. Additional options for the Compressionist 250 include Minerva's advanced video pre-processing module and D1 video capture input. Minerva's scalable system architecture will allow current Compressionist customers to easily upgrade to the Compressionist 250. The Compressionist 250 will ship in October of 1996 with a base system price of $99,000. Minerva Systems Minerva Systems, Inc., founded in 1992, is the leading supplier of high-quality MPEG-based digital video publishing solutions. Minerva's products are used in post-production facilities; telephone and cable television network facilities; advertising agencies; educational institutions and corporations worldwide. Minerva's products are sold through direct sales offices and a network of value-added resellers around the world. Minerva is backed by leading venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] , including Accel Partners, Kodak Corporation's Aperture Fund, Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre and U.S. Venture Partners. The company is headquartered at 3801 Zanker Road, San Jose, Calif. 95134-1402. -0- Note to Editors: The Minerva logo, Minerva Publisher, Minerva Studio, and Compressionist are trademarks of Minerva Systems. All other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. CONTACT: Minerva Systems Paul Collins, 408/487-2001 pcollins@minervasys.com |
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