DVD Chip Leader ESS Technology Adds SRS Labs' TruSurround Technology To Its Feature-Rich Vibratto Family of DVD Products
Market Share Leader in Digital Video DSPs Makes SRS Labs' Popular TruSurround Available to Millions of DVD-Based Products
SANTA ANA, Calif. and FREMONT, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SRS Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRSL - News), a leading provider of patented audio and voice technologies and ESS Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESST - News), the world's leading provider of DVD chips, today jointly announced that SRS Labs' TruSurround® is a new feature on ESS's Vibratto(TM) family of DVD products.
TruSurround is the established standard for the virtualization of 5.1 surround sound over two-speaker systems and has been featured in over 10 million consumer electronics products globally including products made by Aiwa, Emerson, Funai, Hughes Network Systems, Mitsubishi, Marantz, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Sylvania, Thomson/RCA, Toshiba, and Yamaha. TruSurround delivers an immersive home theater surround sound experience to DVD playback systems that are not connected to 5.1 home theater speaker systems. TruSurround is applicable to DVD players, televisions, set top boxes, video game consoles and A/V surround sound receivers. To hear an online demonstration of TruSurround, visit srslabs.com .
"Through our new relationship with ESS, the leading DVD chip manufacturer in the world, a large percentage of consumer electronics companies can now quickly activate our premium TruSurround technology in their DVD designs," said Jennifer Drescher, vice president of marketing, SRS Labs, Inc. "By working closely with ESS, we can penetrate new sectors of the global DVD market. In fact, existing SRS Labs customers are already taking advantage of this new ESS-SRS Labs relationship by turning on the TruSurround feature in current products built with ESS's DVD chips."
Recent estimates by Cahners In-Stat Group indicate that the DVD player market will grow from approximately 18 million units sold in 2000 to 60 million units in 2004. This explosion in sales of DVD players, which inherently have the capability to deliver 5.1 channels of audio, has fueled consumer demand for a home theater surround sound entertainment experience, yet over 75 percent of households still own just a two-speaker audio system. TruSurround bridges the gap between multichannel DVD soundtracks and two-speaker playback systems by delivering a compelling surround sound experience for all two-speaker systems, including internal television speakers.
Patrick Ang, executive vice president and chief operating officer of ESS Technology stated, "We are proud to include SRS Labs' leading TruSurround technology on our feature-rich DVD products. We can now offer our OEM customers the ability to quickly activate the TruSurround virtualizer in their current product designs as a premium feature that further differentiates their products, while leveraging the marketing advantages of the established SRS logo and the TruSurround brand name." TruSurround is initially available within two ESS chip families, which are comprised of feature-rich DVD chips that also include capabilities for DVD-audio, MP3, Kodak Picture CD and Karaoke.
About ESS Technology
ESS Technology, Inc., is a leading supplier of high-performance feature-packed chips for the rapidly expanding DVD and digital entertainment markets. ESS provides advanced products that enable the emergence of digital home entertainment systems that deliver and manage entertainment and information in the home. ESS, headquartered in Fremont, California, has R&D, sales, and technical support offices worldwide. ESS Technology's common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol ESST. ESS Technology's web site address is: esstech.com .
About SRS Labs, Inc.
SRS Labs, Inc. ( www.srslabs.com ) and its subsidiaries provide advanced technology solutions for high growth consumer markets, including home theater, DVD, portable audio, wireless devices, game consoles, automotive, broadcast, Internet and personal computer software. SRS Labs, the parent company, develops the core audio and voice technologies and licenses these patented technologies to over 200 well-known manufacturers and semiconductor companies, including Sony, RCA, Philips, Kenwood, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Microsoft, and Pioneer. ValenceTech, Ltd., ( www.valencetech.com ) SRS Labs' Hong Kong-based subsidiary, is a leading fabless application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design and manufacturing company providing analog and digital ASIC solutions to the world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics, gaming, telecommunications and computer products. SRS Labs' subsidiary, SRSWOWcast Technologies, ( www.srstechnologies.com ) focuses on the Internet and broadcast markets by developing and licensing customized hardware and software products incorporating SRS Labs' patented technologies. The information on the above-referenced websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release.
Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release, including those of Ms. Drescher in paragraph three and Mr. Ang in paragraph five are forward-looking statements and projections (which include statements concerning plans and objectives of management for future operations) that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While each company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the company's goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors (including risks and uncertainties) may affect the company's actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the company. Some of these factors include the general market conditions concerning semiconductor business, the acceptance of SRS Labs' technologies by ESS's customer base, SRS Labs' ability to further penetrate the global DVD market with its technologies the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions, especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in each company's Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. SRS Labs and ESS Technology specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.
For further information please contact Tami Yanito of SRS Labs, Inc., +1-949-442-1070 x3093, tami@srslabs.com; or Investor Relations of ESS Technology, Inc., +1-510-492-1180.
SOURCE: SRS Labs, Inc. |
