ATI is bullish on DVD. But it is pushing its hybrid hardware/software solution. I forecast that they'll have a complete hardware solution one day (maybe not their own)...............
-ATI TECHNOLOGIES: Will DVD let PCs usurp the TV?
M2 PRESSWIRE-24 November 1997-ATI TECHNOLOGIES: Will DVD let PCs usurp the TV? (C)1994-97 M2
COMMUNICATIONS LTD
* ATI Technologies leads PC DVD entertainment revolution
DVD will be the killer technology that establishes the PC in the home entertainment market, says ATI Technologies.
ATI is currently shipping a solution to major computer manufacturers, including Compaq, that allows any PC equipped with a
DVD-ROM drive and an ATI 3D Rage Pro chip to play DVD movies on either a monitor or TV screen.
Hardware add-ons which allow owners of a DVD-ROM drive to play DVD movies could add hundreds of pounds to the
price of a PC, taking it out of an acceptable home price range. However ATI has developed an extremely low cost solution
that saves PC makers the need to incorporate expensive DVD hardware and opens the door for PC-based DVD systems
into the mainstream marketplace.
The higher resolutions of PCs over TV sets result in higher quality images than are possible with DVD video player/TV
systems.
Industry analyst DataQuest predicted in a May, 1997 report that DVD PC drive systems will total about 8 million in 1997,
compared to about 1 million DVD video players. By the end of 1998, the DVD PC drive market should swell to more than
24 million, with DVD video players at about 4 million.
ATI is the only graphics vendor in the marketplace currently shipping a high quality DVD solution that enables DVD replay
through the use of hardware-assisting motion compensation and software and is expected to continue to lead and dominate the
PC DVD market.
ATI has worked in close partnership with both Intel and software developer Zoran for more than a year to develop the
world's best software DVD solution.
Gerd Queisser, vice-president of ATI's European operations says: "Software DVD is the killer-technology that PC
manufacturers have been looking for to penetrate the home entertainment marketplace.
"With software and our 3D RAGE PRO chip, manufacturers can build a high quality DVD solution that takes advantage of the
inherent benefits of the PC over the consumer DVD video player - and do it virtually free-of-charge.
"Together we will help the DVD market grow tremendously and the features that 3D RAGE PRO offers now will become
standard for DVD in the future."
Compaq will include ATI's DVD solution in its Presario 4840 and 4850. A number of other major computer manufacturers
are poised to announce DVD products that incorporate ATI's software DVD technology.
Home theatre systems and big screen movies with ImpacTV2
For display on large screen TV sets, ATI also offers the ImpacTV2 chip for high quality PAL TV-out. The flicker-free display
on the TV provided by the ImpacTV2 chip will allow computer makers to offer PC DVD systems that can easily and
inexpensively serve as excellent home theatre systems. ImpacTV2 also provides support for Macrovision 7 copy protection to
allow display of protected DVD content on a TV set.
ATI also manufacturers ATI-TV, an add-in card that turns a PC into a TV, complete with full Teletext which can be copied
and pasted like any computer document.
Still images or movie clips can be captured to disc or copied into presentations, web pages or email messages. Users can
zoom-in on video footage, and images recorded by camcorder can be transported to the PC ready for playback in a matter of
seconds.
ATI's 3D RAGE PRO chip off-loads demand on the Pentium II processor
The 3D RAGE PRO chip off-loads much of the computational workload from the Pentium II, the best processor for optimal
DVD performance, [without a hardware decoder!] and with motion compensation, provides the full frame rates needed for high quality DVD/MPEG-2
playback. Without motion compensation, competing hardware solutions cannot provide full frame rate replay, resulting in
jumpy images when action on the screen involves rapid movement.
With the power of ATI's leading home entertainment and multimedia technologies the PC far outstrips the 'fun potential' of the
traditional TV.
About ATI
ATI Technologies Inc. designs, manufactures and markets innovative and award-winning multimedia acceleration solutions and
graphics components for personal computers.
The company is one of the world's leading suppliers of video and 2D/3D graphics accelerator products to OEM and retail
customers.
Founded in l985, ATI employs more than 900 people at headquarters in Thornhill, Ontario, with offices in the United States,
Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Japan. The company is ranked among Canada's largest technology firms
with fiscal 1996 fiscal revenues of GBP 218 million.
The company has a history of industry firsts including the first 2D accelerator - mach32, the first PCI accelerator - mach64,
and the first 3D accelerator - 3D RAGE. In addition to its successful desktop chips, ATI markets the world's first 3D LCD
chip for notebooks - the 3D RAGE LT.
ATI's European headquarters are based in Germany, with the UK operation co-ordinated from London. ATI's web page is at
www.atitech.com
Editor's Note:
ATI hardware is available for review from Cohn & Wolfe. If you would like a demonstration of ATI's technologies please call
David Harold.
CONTACT: Simon Greer, ATI Technologies Inc. Tel: +44 (0)1628 533 115 Fax: +44 (0)1628 533 116 e-mail:
sgreer@atitech.ca David Harold/Chris Cox, Cohn & Wolfe Tel: +44 (0)171 331 5300 Fax: +44 (0)171 331 9088 e-mail:
david_harold@cohnwolfe.com
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