Here comes competition!
Company Press Release
Zoran and Intel Cooperate in the Delivery of Hardware DVD Solutions on the PC
Vaddis4VMI Daughter Card Reference Design Adds Plug-In DVD Capabilities To Intel740-based Boards
For Less Than $30
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1998-- Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ:ZRAN - news), the leading provider of
integrated circuits and software for digital video and audio enabled by compression, announced today a new daughter card reference design that
adds hardware DVD capabilities to Intel's new Intel740 graphics chip for a Bill Of Materials (BOM) of less than $30. Based on Zoran's
highly-integrated Vaddis DVD decoder and Zoran's SoftDVD Navigator, the new Vaddis4VMI daughter card reference design uses only the
Vaddis decoder, a single 16Mbit SDRAM IC and a 27MHz clock oscillator to form a truly low-cost, high-performance DVD solution for PCs.
Developed in conjunction with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - news) for their new graphics chip also announced today, the new Vaddis4VMI is yet
another step in the Intel/Zoran cooperative effort to bring DVD solutions to the PC. Zoran's new Vaddis4VMI daughter card reference design
will also be compatible with other graphics chips which support the VMI standard.
''Zoran's VMI daughter card provides a low-cost, high-performance solution to add DVD to Intel740 based designs,'' said Jeff Bader, Director
of System Integration, Intel Graphic Components Division. ''We are pleased to be working with Zoran to offer such a high-quality integrated
DVD solution at a cost that can address the performance PC segment.''
''We are very happy to add our Vaddis and SoftDVD capabilities to Intel's new graphics processor,'' said Dr. Levy Gerzberg, president and
CEO of Zoran Corporation. ''We believe the availability of Zoran's Vaddis4VMI in conjunction with the Intel740 will accelerate the
incorporation of hardware DVD into the PC environment. The development of the Vaddis4VMI DVD reference design is yet another step in
Zoran's overall commitment to provide both hardware and software solutions to the DVD market, including the Vaddis DVD decoder hardware
solution, our all-software SoftDVD, software/hardware hybrid solutions, and DVD-related cores.''
On the Vaddis4VMI Reference Design
Vaddis4VMI is a DVD daughter card design initially targeted for Intel740 based PCI and AGP graphics cards and based on the VMI 1.4
standard. VMI (Video Module Interface) provides a direct bi-directional high bandwidth connection for both DVD data and video from Vaddis
to the graphics controller. Systems designed to take advantage of VMI can achieve high DVD performance at a lower cost than PCI solutions,
because they do not require a dedicated PCI slot to add DVD functionality or cables to run from board to board. Furthermore, VMI eliminates
loading of the PCI bus with video thereby improving system performance.
The complete daughter card design includes the Vaddis4VMI software drivers and Zoran's SoftDVD Navigator. SoftDVD Navigator provides
the same look and feel to the user as Zoran's leading all software SoftDVD application. This provides the opportunity for OEM's to have a
unified user interface spanning their entire product line of DVD solutions from full hardware to full software decoding.
A full design kit including schematics, bill of materials, and design files is available immediately from Zoran to qualified Independent Hardware
Vendors and OEMs.
On the Vaddis DVD Decoder
The Vaddis ZR36700 decoder is the world's most advanced DVD solution targeted at second-generation consumer stand-alone
DVD/VideoCD/CD-DA players and PC-based DVD systems. Based on Zoran's proprietary MPEG 2 video and Dolby Digital audio
technology, the Vaddis decoder integrates the decoding and presentation functionality required for full implementation of the DVD standard in a
single chip. This includes DVD content protection (CSS), Program stream demultiplexing, MPEG 2 video, MPEG 1 video, Dolby Digital (AC-3)
audio, MPEG audio, audio/video synchronization, Linear PCM audio, Subpicture, OSD, Letterbox, Pan-Scan and more.
The first member of the Vaddis family, the ZR36700, integrates many of the different components required in first generation DVD systems
and interfaces efficiently to the remaining components in the system. Using a Zoran-proprietary implementation, the Vaddis decoder requires
only a single 16 Mbit SDRAM for full operation. Vaddis dramatically reduces the number of chips and the size of the required memory thereby
lowering the power consumption and overall cost of a DVD system.
The Vaddis ZR36700 DVD decoder is in volume production and is available immediately.
About Zoran
Zoran Corporation develops and markets integrated circuits and software for digital video and audio applications enabled by compression for the
PC and consumer multimedia markets. Zoran's product lines include JPEG codecs, MPEG and DVD decoders, Dolby Digital and MPEG audio
decoders, real-time Video CD and DVD software for the PC, and VLSI cores. The company's software is bundled by PC and graphic system
manufacturers for software-only or hardware-assisted Video CD, DVD and JPEG compressed video playback on the PC. Current applications
for Zoran IC products include professional and consumer video editing systems, filmless digital cameras, PC-based or stand-alone Video CD
systems and DVD players, and digital audio systems. Zoran is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with additional operations in Haifa,
Israel, Toronto, Canada, and Tokyo, Japan.
Zoran's products and technologies have been adopted by many of the world's largest PC, audio/video boards and home entertainment systems
manufacturers. For more information about Zoran call (408) 919-4111, or contact our website: www.zoran.com.
Note to Editors: Vaddis, SoftDVD and Vaddis4VMI are trademarks of Zoran Corporation. Intel740 is a trademark of Intel Corporation. |
