Next Generation DVD Video and Audio Encoder from Spruce Technologies Delivers High-End Post Quality at Fraction of Price.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 1999--

The new MPX-3000 encoder card for DVD authoring from Spruce Technologies delivers superior video and audio encoding results for customers at a fraction of the cost of dedicated encoding systems. The MPX-3000 is available as part of an integrated DVDStation(TM) encoding and authoring system with the customer's choice of DVDMaestro(TM) or DVDConductor(TM) authoring software.

London-based post house The Machine Room was one of the first in the UK to purchase an MPX-3000 equipped DVDStation. The Machine Room has a client base that ranges from feature film clients to advertising agencies, and from music promo producers to satellite and cable broadcasters. With such a broad range of clients, there is the potential for DVD to be used in a multitude of ways.

According to The Machine Room's Post Production Manager Simon Briggs, "Our Post Production experience with this expansive client base has turned us into a multi-disciplined facility and we felt that we needed a system that would allow us to continue in this vein. Out of all the systems that we tested we saw the turnkey DVDStation system as the one that would give us this flexibility to service these diverse client needs."

Briggs continued, "We initially tested some high-quality material that was telecined and post produced on high-end equipment and the results were excellent, particularly on black and white commercials and promos where strong contrasts can sometimes cause problems to MPEG encoders. Whilst we reiterate to our clients that the quality of their DVD project depends to a large extent on the quality of the material as prepared at the post production stage, there will always be projects where only old original video masters are available. The encoding system therefore needs to be able to deal with this type of material and from what we have seen the MPX3000 appears to deal with it extremely well. We have been excited and encouraged by the incredible and rapidly growing response from clients to DVD Production and we are confident that DVDMaestro will allow us to cater for all their needs."

A combination of advanced hardware and software technologies enable the MPX-3000 to compete with dedicated encoding systems that cost nearly 10 times the price. MPX-3000 provides extremely precise software controls over the encoding process with single pass Constant Bit Rate (CBR) and Statistical Variable Bit Rate (SVBR) real-time encoding, as well as multi-pass VBR for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Additional features such as multi-pass VBR, inverse telecine, and segment re-encoding are essential to producing the highest quality images at the best compression ratio.

The integrated PCI card delivers pristine picture quality by using C-Cube's DVxpert(TM) single-chip codec, as well as superior 2-channel Dolby(R) Digital audio encoding. Video input and output for the MPX-3000 is via industry-standard SDI SMPTE 259, with support for embedded audio SMPTE 272M. Resolutions supported include full, 1/2, 1/3 and 2/3 D1. Digital video is CCIR 601 component format, and support for analog composite and component I/O is available as an option. During the encoding process, the MPX-3000-equipped DVDStation provides real time video monitoring of the encoded video stream for quality assurance. MPX-3000 also uses Motorola's Onyx 56301 DSP which provides audio support for 2-channel Dolby Digital real time encoding. Support for 5.1 channel Dolby Digital surround sound is available with an optional Spruce ACXpress(TM) 5100 PCI card. Digital AES/EBU inputs and output are provided as is an option for analog I/O.

About Spruce Technologies, Inc.

Spruce Technologies develops and markets DVD authoring software and MPEG encoders for the corporate, new media, and entertainment markets. Based in San Jose, California, Spruce combines the best Silicon Valley software expertise with extensive DVD, MPEG and video postproduction knowledge.

For more information, contact Spruce at 408-861-2200. Additional information about Spruce is also available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.spruce-tech.com.

Note to Editors: Spruce Technologies, Inc., Spruce, DVDMaestro, and DVDStation, DVDConductor, and DVDonCD are trademarks of Spruce Technologies, Inc. Other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.