Zoran Announces Video Inlet -- First Peripheral Solution to Enable High-Quality, Full-Motion Video Capture Over USB Bus.SANTA CLARA Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 1997-- Zoran Leverages JPEG JPEG in full Joint Photographic Experts Group Standard computer file format for storing graphic images in a compressed form for general use. JPEG images are compressed using a mathematical algorithm. Compression Technology In A New Reference Design Bringing Video Capture And Editing To Consumer PCs Zoran Corp. (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 :ZRAN) announced today the Video Inlet(TM), the first video capture peripheral reference design which enables high-quality, full-motion video capture using a Universal Serial Bus See USB. (hardware, standard) Universal Serial Bus - (USB) An external peripheral interface standard for communication between a computer and external peripherals over an inexpensive cable using biserial transmission. (USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. )-equipped PC. Video Inlet leverages Zoran's field-proven JPEG compression technology to allow its customers to bring to market a very low-cost, plug-and-play solution to capture high-quality, full-motion video over USB, bringing video capture and editing to the consumer market. Both consumer and business users increasingly want to bring video into their PCs, to use in authoring multimedia presentations, Web pages, and computer-based training applications. Common PC software such as Microsoft PowerPoint allows the user to readily insert video clips, while software such as Adobe Premiere, MGI MGI Mouse Genome Informatics MGI Modular Gateway Interface MGI McKinsey Global Institute MGI Military Geographic Information MGI Marine Geological Institute MGI Policy on the Management of Government Information (Canada) Video Wave, Gold Disk Asound and Ulead MediaStudio allows easy video editing on a PC. But the final obstacle has been the cost and ease-of-use of hardware needed to bring video into the PC. Video Inlet solves these problems with a low-cost solution which is connected to the PC as simply as plugging an electrical appliance into a wall outlet. "Video Inlet is truly a breakthrough," said Dr. Isaac Shenberg, vice president of sales and marketing for Zoran Corp. "For years consumers have sought to bring video from camcorders and VCRs onto their PCs, simply and affordably. This is now possible with Video Inlet." "Universal Serial Bus plug-and play technology, Zoran's JPEG compression ICs and Intel Corporation's end-to-end USB solutions can be an excellent method in delivering video to the PC," said Stephen Whalley, connectivity initiatives manager for Intel's desktop products group. "Consumers will be able to simply plug in a device based on the Video Inlet reference design into the PC and start capturing video, while enjoying all the benefits that USB delivers, like not ever having to worry about rebooting their computers." In the past when users wanted to install new hardware for video capture, they had to open the PC's case and sort through a jumble of wires and connectors, select the correct location to plug in the new hardware, and reconfigure and reboot To reload the operating system, which restarts the computer. See boot. (operating system) reboot - (From boot) A boot with the implication that the computer has not been down for long, or that the boot is a bounce intended to clear some state of wedgitude. See warm boot. their machine. This was a complex and error-prone exercise for the user and support intensive to the board manufacturer. Now, the USB, a PC peripheral interface standard developed by computer industry leaders, eliminates the steps of installing cards into dedicated computer slots and reconfiguring a PC when adding peripherals. USB allows peripherals to be automatically detected and configured as soon as they are physically attached, without opening the PC box and even without powering down or rebooting, making the addition of new peripherals easier for the user. USB has been endorsed throughout the PC industry and already 40 million USB-equipped machines have shipped. Next year almost 80% of new PCs will have the USB capability(1). The one drawback to USB is its relatively limited bandwidth. USB has a total bandwidth of 12 Mbits/s with effective bandwidth of less than 8 Mbits/sec., while a full-motion video stream takes 40 Mbits/s or more. But with Zoran's JPEG technology, the video stream can be compressed in real-time to fit into the available USB bandwidth. Zoran Video Inlet is capable of capturing high quality full-motion, CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). resolution video. This has a better quality than VideoCDs, QuickTime movies or video conferencing applications. Captured video can be viewed on the PC using Zoran's software JPEG 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, , also provided with the reference design. Video Inlet offers two additional capabilities: frame grabbing and uncompressed video capture. Frame grabbing allows Video Inlet to acquire a high-resolution still images, which can then be edited, saved, printed or e-mailed. This enables people to send family snapshots via e-mail. Uncompressed video capture enables consumer-quality video conferencing. All a user needs is Video Inlet and a third-party software package such as Microsoft NetMeeting or Intel's ProShare, to enable real-time video conferencing with others via phone lines or the Internet. "Video has many important uses on the PC in training, multimedia presentations, information kiosks, video conferencing, and other important business and consumer functions," said Geoff Balew, Senior Analyst at Dataquest. "Zoran's Video Inlet leverages the rapidly growing base of USB and overcomes its limited bandwidth to enable full-motion video capture on ordinary PCs. Its ease-of-use and very low cost will certainly help to accelerate the adoption of video on the PC for many applications." The bill of materials The list of components that make up a system. For example, a bill of materials for a house would include the cement block, lumber, shingles, doors, windows, plumbing, electric, heating and so on. (BOM) cost of the Video Inlet for system developers is less than $50 in volume quantities. The Video Inlet design can also be integrated into video cameras, enabling high-quality, compact USB cameras. Zoran is the leader in providing JPEG compression and decompression technology for digital camera and video solutions in the PC, consumer, and business markets. Zoran's JPEG products are capable of being used in applications such as video capture, video editing, color printers, scanners, digital still cameras, video conferencing, security and medical imaging products. A key feature of Zoran's JPEG products is its patented Bit- Rate-Control. This breakthrough technology enables the predictability of memory size and data communications bandwidth required for compressing images of varying complexity. This results in superior image quality and system reliability. A complete family of JPEG chips, as well as reference boards and related software are available from Zoran. Zoran's Video Inlet will be demonstrated in Booth number 103 at the Digital Video show in Burbank, California on October 21-22, and in Booth number M1232 at Fall Comdex in the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV from November 17-21. A complete reference design board with schematics, Windows software drivers, JPEG software codec, and documentation will be available at Comdex. About Zoran Zoran Corporation develops and markets integrated circuits, integrated circuit "cores" and software for digital video and audio applications enabled by compression for the PC and consumer multimedia markets. Zoran's product lines include JPEG codecs The following is a list of codecs. Audio codecs Non-compression formats
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. decoders, Dolby Digital and MPEG audio decoders, real-time Video CD and DVD software for the PC, and 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. cores. The company's software is bundled by PC and graphic system manufacturers for software-only or hardware-assisted Video CD, DVD and JPEG compressed video playback on the PC. Current applications for Zoran IC products include professional and consumer video editing systems, filmless digital cameras, PC-based or stand-alone Video CD systems and DVD players, and digital audio systems. The company has further strengthened its technology leadership with the recent acquisition of CompCore Multimedia, Inc., a leading provider of software and hardware IC cores for multimedia products. Zoran is headquartered in Santa Clara, California Santa Clara, California (IPA: /ˌsæntəˈklærə/) , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. with additional operations in Haifa, Israel, Toronto, Canada, and Tokyo, Japan. Zoran's products and technologies have been adopted by many of the world's largest manufacturers including Acer, ATI (ATI Technologies Inc., Markham Ontario, http://ati.amd.com) A leading manufacturer of graphics chips and display adapters. Founded in 1985 by K. Y. Ho, Benny Lau and Lee Lau, ATI chips and boards are widely used by OEMs. , Avid Technology, Cirrus Logic, Compaq, Denon, Diamond Multimedia, Dolby, FujiFilm, Fujitsu, Harmon Kardon, Hitachi, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Iomega, Kenwood, Marantz, Matrox, Matsushita, miro Computer, NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. , Packard Bell, Pinnacle, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Truevision, Yamaha and many others. For more information about Zoran call (408) 919-4111. -0- Note to Editors: (1) Market research from Dataquest, Intel and Cirrus Logic. Video Inlet is a trademark of Zoran Corporation. All trademarks are property of their respective companies. CONTACT: Virtual Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most for Zoran Corp. Carey Mitchell, 650/369-7833 (Media) carey@virtualpr.com or Financial Relations Board Hannah Bruce, 415/986-1591 (Investor) hbb@sf.frbd.com or Zoran Corporation Tanya DelVecchio, 408/919-4229 tanya@zoran.com |
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