E4 (the company) to make DVD cool - Using Cube
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E4 to make DVD cool
By John Poultney (john_poultney@zd.com)
E4, formerly known as Elecede Technologies Inc., is readying CoolDVD, a $499 kit that brings Macs full Digital Video Disc support as well as navigation functions for DVD titles. The company expects the package to ship in September.
The CoolDVD kit includes a PCI-based decoder board that will provide MPEG and MPEG-2 video capabilities, provide multichannel audio and subtitle support, and include a DVD-ROM drive. (E4 said it has not yet selected the drive manufacturer.)
A companion board will include a host of output connectors for external devices, including S-video , stereo audio, composite video and S/PDIF digital audio. This board, which will attach via an internal ribbon cable, will block any adjacent slot but will not actually use the slot; users may opt not to connect it if they prefer not to attach anything to the system, the company said.
Hardware-based copy protection will be provided by proprietary E4 software and an encryption chip from C-Cube Microsystems Inc. of Milpitas, Calif., E4 said. The system will support both NTSC and PAL (European) video formats and 5.1-channel Dolby audio.
CoolDVD will include a utility to let users navigate titles, choose among language channels and select viewing angles. DVD video will be displayed in a scalable window with support for as high as 720-by-480-pixel resolution in MPEG-2, the company said.
E4 of San Jose, Calif., can be reached at (408) 441-6060; fax (408) 441-6070; elecede.com. |
