Tuesday April 7, 7:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Zoran Receives Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs Certification for SoftDVD
First Shipping Software-only DVD Decoder Gets Quality Stamp Sought by PC OEMS
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 1998--Zoran Corp. (NASDAQ:ZRAN - news) today announced that Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT - news) Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) has certified the company's SoftDVD software-only DVD decoder for use by PC OEM manufacturers.
The company believes that this marks the first time in its history that Microsoft has certified a software stand-alone product in its hardware labs. WHQL certification is Microsoft's highest quality stamp for hardware products, and now, hardware-replacement software products.
SoftDVD is the industry's first shipping software-based DVD playback solution and has now become one of the first software decoders to be certified by Microsoft's stringent hardware test labs.
SoftDVD has been granted ''Compatible'' status, which allows PC OEMs to ship it without affecting their system's Windows Logo status. SoftDVD allows computer users to watch high-quality movies and playback interactive DVD applications on their PCs without the need for dedicated hardware decoders.
''This is one of the key milestones we had set for the product from the time we first introduced the concept of replacing hardware decoders with a host-based DVD player. It is a tribute to our team's dedicated efforts that Microsoft has decided our implementation merits certification,'' said Joe Monastiero, director of software marketing at Zoran Corporation.
''This product status and implied quality standard is demanded today by most major system manufacturers.''
SoftDVD includes a robust DVD player/navigator, MPEG2 and Dolby Digital decoders, and fully certified CSS copy protection. Other SoftDVD certifications include those from Dolby and Macrovision. Leading PC OEMs, including Compaq and Hewlett Packard, are already using SoftDVD. IBM is also using Zoran's SoftDVD Navigator.
About Zoran
Zoran Corporation develops and markets integrated circuits, integrated circuit cores 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, Calif. 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 Zoran's website: www.zoran.com.
Note to Editors: SoftDVD is a trademark of Zoran Corporation. Dolby Digital is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories. |
