This is cool: 1/11/00 - C-CUBE MICROSYSTEMS:
C-Cube brings broadcast quality to streaming
video market
JAN 11, 2000, M2 Communications - Milpitas, California -- C-Cube Microsystems (Nasdaq:
CUBE) has announced a new single-chip broadcast CODEC for one and two- way video
networking applications including the emerging market for streaming video.
DVxpert 5120 is the first single-chip MPEG CODEC (encoder and decoder) solution for streaming
video over Internet Protocol (IP) and provides the potential for broadcast quality content creation
and video playback over narrow, middle and broadband Internet pipes.
Leading manufacturers of one and two-way video networking systems including Optibase, Minerva
and FutureTel have each developed DVxpert 5120-based products.
"Streaming video offers a cost-effective solution for highly visual, global communication," said Ray
Newstead, vice president and general manager of C- Cube's Broadband Network Division.
"C-Cube is offering the enabling MPEG compression and decompression technology that will allow
video over IP to be as crisp and clear as it is on television, creating a new performance benchmark
for communication applications."
"Optibase selected the DVxpert 5120 after extensive evaluation," said Greg Eisips, director of
technical marketing for Optibase. "Its advanced features such as prefiltering and motion estimation
deliver on our technical requirements for providing the highest image quality for our customers. In
addition, it meets our needs for supporting both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 as well as low delay for
video networking applications."
DVxpert 5120 Addresses All Video Networking Applications
DVxpert 5120 can be used for both one and two-way enterprise video networking applications,
including streaming video over IP, VOD (video on demand), distance learning,
enterprise-to-enterprise video training, video conferencing, telemedicine, security/web camera
operations and satellite news gathering.
Streaming video, the newest of these applications, allows worldwide viewing of live events and
speeches (political, business or social), corporate training, worker collaboration, academic lectures,
music videos, weather reports, security tapings and sporting events.
Image Quality: Bit Rate and Bandwidth, Audio/Video Synchronization
DVxpert 5120 provides a higher level of image quality and wider range of bit rate coverage than
previously accessible in video networking content creation and distribution applications. The
CODEC also allows fully synchronized audio and video for the first time.
The CODEC offers scalable MPEG in a single-chip, allowing MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encoding at
varying quality levels for optimum quality at any bandwidth.
The CODEC allows MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compression at bit rates ranging from an ultra-low
56Kbps up to 15Mbps.
For narrow and middleband applications the CODEC can compress MPEG-1 video to as low as
56Kbps. For broadband, the chip compresses MPEG-2 video at a rate as low as 1.5 Mbps or as
high as 15Mbps.
DVxpert 5120 is the industry's first solution for fully synchronized audio and video. The CODEC
places a time-code on the audio and video streams. When the two streams merge together for
streaming over the Internet, the stamps are linked together for precise matching of sound with
movement.
DVxpert 5120 Speeds Time-to-Market and Lowers System Costs
DVxpert 5120's high integration of necessary functionality for video networking applications
simplifies board and system design as well as lowers overall cost.
DVxpert 5120 is the industry's first full-duplex, real time MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encode/decode
engine. The CODEC offers video and audio synchronization, transport-layer support for system
multiplexing and demultiplexing on a single-chip. Packaged on a compact 308-pin BGA, DVxpert
5120 requires only 8MB external SDRAMs (no external FIFO required) and consumes less than
two watts of power.
For corporate communication applications, DVxpert 5120 is forecast to enable MPEG-based
turn-key or stand-alone desktop video communication systems at the sub $5,000 range, allowing a
nearly 50% reduction in the cost of similarly featured systems.
Availability
DVxpert 5120 is available and shipping now. |
