Intel Audio Codec 2.0 specification. It includes support for audio-only DVDs and DVD audio............
-INTEL: Intel announces Audio Codec (AC) '97 2.0 update
Presswire - October 01, 1997 15:08
M2 PRESSWIRE-1 October 1997-INTEL: Intel announces Audio Codec (AC) '97 2.0 update (C)1994-97 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
* Updated specification gives PCs audio quality comparable to consumer electronics
Intel Corporation announced today at its Intel Developer Forum the Audio Codec (AC) '97 version 2.0 specification, the latest update to its Audio '98 Roadmap. AC '97 2.0 is the next step in enabling PCs with audio quality comparable to high-quality digital audio consumer electronics devices. The specification defines new cost-effective options to help PC OEMs integrate the components necessary to support next-generation audio-intensive PC applications such as DVD, 3-D multiplayer games and interactive music. The specification also defines new extensions supporting modem and docking to help both desktop and mobile manufacturers incorporate these new features more quickly and cost-effectively.
"Intel's AC '97 2.0 enables PC manufacturers to deliver next-generation audio in a more cost-effective way and be competitive with the quality of consumer electronics devices," said Russ Hampsten, Intel's audio marketing manager. "Several announcements made at the Intel Developer Forum, such as AC '97 2.0, will help drive the PC to the next level of convergence, making it the ultimate home and business appliance."
The original AC '97 Component Specification, announced in June 1996, was co-developed with Analog Devices, Creative Labs, National Semiconductor and Yamaha. In contrast to conventional PC audio solutions, which integrate high-fidelity audio circuitry together with digitally intensive PC bus interfaces and synthesizer circuits, AC '97 called for two separate chips, one primarily analog and the other digital. The original AC '97 specifies the baseline functionality of the analog I/O component and defines the digital interface to a scaleable digital controller.
AC '97 2.0 specifies new features and functionality that extend the original AC '97 guidelines, adding several benefits including high-quality (HQ) audio, modem extensions, and multi-codec capabilities.
The HQ audio extensions add several new options for supporting HQ audio. Defined support for multichannel (six maximum) surround output and ample rates up to 88.2 or 96 kHz (with up to 120 dB dynamic range) will support DVD video and future audio-only DVD. AC '97 is part of Intel's Audio 98 Roadmap, which offers supporting data on the emerging uses of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 technology for digital audio, as well as a digital audio migration timeline extending to the year 2000.
The modem extension provides a cost-effective way to integrate modem capability to a system, benefiting both desktop and mobile PCs.
The multiple codec capability standardizes the method of support for more than one codec on the AC '97 interface, useful for mobile docking stations, telephony and multichannel audio solutions or applications. The modem solution enables separate telephone and modem codecs for easy design flexibility as well as internationalization. It also defines a simplified way to add additional codecs for more than two-channel capability to enable such applications as Surround Sound.
AC '97 2.0 was announced at the Intel Developer Forum and is offered under a royalty-free reciprocal license to encourage rapid adoption. The specification can be downloaded from the Intel Web site at developer.intel.com/pc-supp/platform/ac97. The semiannual Intel Developer Forum is a three-day intensive forum providing hardware OEMs and IHVs in-depth information on Intel technologies and initiatives. More information on the Intel Developer Forum can be found at www.intel.com/intel/idf.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of personal computer, networking, and communications products. Additional information is available at intel.com.
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