South China Morning Post, 1/28/97. VCD to DVD......................
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TuesdayÿÿJanuary 28ÿÿ1997
Decoder chip opens door for video CDs
The era of the audio-only compact disc player is nearing its end in Asia.
With the introduction of a new, highly integrated video decoder chip by the United States firm C-Cube Microsystems this month, many Asian audio CD player manufacturers will see materials costs drop far enough so they can begin upgrading all their audio players to combination audio-video CD players.
C-Cube's newest chip, the CL680, is the world's first single-chip video CD decoder with the built-in capability of scaling any type of video material to a full-screen picture on a television.
For manufacturers, the new chip means that video CD players will be US$6 to $8 cheaper to assemble because manufacturers will not need to buy and insert a separate NTSC/PAL encoder.
Picture quality should also improve because incorporating the encoder allows for more accurate signal separation.
NTSC is the National Television Standards Committee, which sets the standards for US video source material.
PAL is a standard used in many European countries and in Asia.
For the consumer, the new chip will mean further reductions in the price of low-end units.
Additional features will also be built in to higher-priced audio-video CD models without significantly increasing retail prices.
Tim Connors, C-Cube's senior marketing manager for video CD, said he expected the price of a video CD player to fall to within 150 per cent of the price of an audio CD player this year, making it cost-effective for manufacturers to incorporate both technologies into one machine.
"Audio CD manufacturers are finally seeing the arrival of a price point where they now want to upgrade all of their audio CD players to audio-video CD players," he said.
Since its introduction in November 1994, the video CD player has emerged as the fastest-growing consumer electronics product of all time.
According to C-Cube, which pioneered the technology, 1.8 million units were sold in China, Korea and Japan during the first 12 months of marketing.
That compares favourably with the initial market penetration of other electronics products: 900,000 digital satellite systems, 300,000 audio CD players and 150,000 VCRs were sold during their first year of production.
"Video CD players took off in China first. Now they are scattering throughout Asia," Mr Connors said.
He said about eight million units had been sold last year. He expected about 12 million more to be sold this year as prices continued to fall below $150.
Although video CD players are almost unavailable in the US and in Europe, where the VCR is still king, they have attracted a wide following in Asia because of their affordability and high-quality images.
Movies encoded on video CDs also do not decay in humid weather or with the passage of time.
Video CD machine owners also have a wide range of movies and karaoke discs from which to choose.
There are 15,000 Chinese titles available for a retail price of $2.50 each. There are also about 2,000 Korean titles selling for $12 and 800 Japanese titles priced at $20 each.
C-Cube is pushing to introduce the video CD player in India and it is considering setting up an office there this year. It already has eight offices in Asia, including three in China, and one in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
C-Cube vice-president of marketing Alex Daly said that manufacturing partners including Panasonic/Matsushita in Japan and Samsung in Korea would begin producing video CD players with the new chip next month.
By the fourth quarter, he expected most manufacturers to have switched to using the CL680.
An additional feature of the new chip is that it contains advanced video filtering and image repair capabilities.
That allows consumers to play damaged or dirty CDs with only a minimal reduction in picture quality.
"In China, the quality of video CDs is often not that high because much of the production is done with audio CD equipment. Our decoders do a lot of post processing to pinpoint errors and find out how to mask them," Mr Connors said.
With the next generation of video technology - digital video disc, or digital versatile disc (DVD) as it has become known - due to be released in stores in the US this spring, Mr Daly said that C-Cube was evaluating potential joint-venture partners in China to make digital products.
He predicted that Asia, not the US, could take the lead in adopting DVD technology. Not only were many Asia nations installing the highest-quality fibre-optic telecommunications lines, but they were perhaps more open to the digital future. |
