More on Sigma/IBM...........
From the Semiconductor Pages of Electronic News: March 9, 1998 Issue
Sigma Cards Enable Corporate PC Video
Fremont, Calif.--Sigma Designs has introduced a pair of digital video cards for the corporate
desktop PC environment designed to enable users to play high-quality streaming video and
audio on PCs at work.
Dubbed the Realmagic NetStream 2 MPEG-2 playback cards, the first card is an ISA-based
video card based on MPEG-1 technology hardware. The second card features MPEG-1 and
MPEG-2 hardware as well as video out in a PCI-format. Both cards feature IBM's video
decoder and Zoran's audio decoder. Both cards support Windows 95 and Windows NT
platforms and feature two megabytes of SDRAM and an EM7210 PCI bridge scalar. The
boards are sampling with planned production in 2Q98 priced at $379 (msrp). [NOTE: This is more than twice the price of Creative's standalone CUBE MPEG-2 card ($169)]
"Video is becoming a reality in the corporate environment," said Prem Talreja, VP of marketing
at Sigma. "Everyone thinks of video as just entertainment but that is no longer a reality. The
reality is that many corporate LANs and WANs are needing video for communications and
inter-office purposes."
Sigma has already signed as customers for the NetStream IBM, Compaq Computer Company,
Dell Computer, EDS, Hughes Network Systems, OptiVision and Nortel. The playback cards
also support various applications programming interfaces (APIs) including MCI, OM-1,
Microsoft's ActiveMovie 1.0 and DirectShow APIs. |
