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Technology Stocks : C-Cube Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CPAMarty who wrote (38)	12/1/1997 9:10:00 AM
From: Maya	Respond to of 324

To: +David Nadalin (25908 ) From: +Chromac Monday, Dec 1 1997 4:31AM EST Reply # of 25920 Jeez, wait 'till Mr. H. gets a load of your posts.... Mr. H has a sense of humor.. It's those dapper Alex's (Delay and Bullcansay) who take themselves too seriously. Can you give a comparison of ZiVA and Impact as a DVD solution? The first is really architected for settop boxes where the CPU is realtively weak (runs Windows CE) and the display is always NTSC or PAL out, whereas the second is a broader chip meant for PCs where CPU power (Windows NT) is a freebie and the presentation format (display) can be anything. Fixed function (fomer) is expected for the box, but the PC is a very fluid place where DVD will be constantly changing shape: display modes, coded sample rates, drivers, graphics, available memory, optional DVD features that are later enabled, user interfaces/navigators, private data streams, even whole new ideo and audio types, new applications for DVD, and so forth. The hardware designers will go crazy trying to keep up, fighting bugs (as they already are). Do you know what I think most DVD decoders both on the PC and settop will look like in the long term? A: devices like Cyrix' MXi! (they even had the intelligence to add a byte average instruction, something Intel's brain-dead MMX completely missed). On high end PCs, it will be graphics controllers that significantly accelerate or take on the entire MPEG process. There WILL BE high end 3-D chips which can decode most stages of HDTV (High Level) by '99 and inexpensive dedicated single-chip HDTV decoders too! How do you rate the offerings from all the single Chip encoder suppliers? It's getting harder to wade through just the ones I know about, let alone the ones I don't. I would imagine about 10 people at Cube think they can go off and start their own pet encoder chip company, plus 50 more people out there in the Collective MPEG Implementation Land. Formula: Give yourself and a few of your buddies a million shares each, start an HDL sweat shop, slap a bunch of modules together, tape out, and call it an encoder! Then pray to get bought out as quickly as possible. How boring. Few if any could really pull it off. Architect cockiness/igno-arrogance again (NOTE: you WANT your competition to be like this!). Players: Cube slow but sure. DVx Video quality: highest, but most expensive. Later and less flexible and more difficult to program than Kohnhead had hoped but still the best architecture (no surprise) in this category of dedicated encoders. The bonus 2xML+ decode capability may win friends at Microsoft (McMahon and Fate). The apparently "smaller" motion range here isn't really an issue (people who think search range is the important thing remind me of people who think size is everything---not what you do with it). Strong pre-processor. I fear Cube will become complacent and charge higher prices (this is another motive for the hoards to do their own), aiming for the high end too long. It would be nice to have this in CE units. Sony The CXD1922Q is a sincere chip that will make its way into medium cost ($500) consumer electronics devices in 2H 1999 when after is has been shrunk to 0.25 micron. OK video quality. It has problems with scene changes (fades) reminiscent of Cube's E1->E3 series. Slow to integrate. There really isn't enough push yet to put it into systems. Unlike DVx, it won't be aimed at teleconferencing (low_delay) since it only deals with frame structured pictures. IBM cost between Sony and Cube. Image quality: better than Sony, but not as good as Cube's. Much faster to integrate into ystems thanks to 3-chip and MCM history. More product focus and neither IBM nor Sony need the galleon of 40+ microcoders like Cube. Innovacomedy late. Quality ?!? Chez-D ? CRisky and any others you care to include Won't make it. Employee ownership (15%) too low. No real video experts at helm. So-long Chin buyout too expensive. Back to drawing board. Others: Hitachi--original MPEGCam was an MPEG-2 product, but had power problems. MPEG-2 proto in late '98 (?). NEC: still having a hard time programming their encoder. Panasonic's (http://www.sscs.org/isscc/1998/ap/TP2.htm) single chip is late, but again is sincere. Panasonic even had a substitute 15-chip encoder card at Comdex just to show they care about DVD authoring. Zapex(Xing): is integrating their PGA/DSP bank into a single(?) Chip, although they have traditionally aimed at the high-end broadcast market. VisionTech/DML: don't know anything about them yet. There a plenty of customer-jokers like Optibate, Vitepid who think they are doing their own. Lotsa luck. Who does LU?is LU (illucidt ?). Why after years of trying will 80&T Microelectronics finally get it right ? The encoder market will someday be very much like the decoder market which is already becoming like the graphics controller market: "nobody else is doing one, lets do it!", then everybody and their motherboard, followed by a shake-out, and a finally handful of cutthroat survivors. CHROMAC -- The Omniscient

To: CPAMarty who wrote (38)	12/1/1997 9:11:00 AM
From: Maya	Respond to of 324

To: +David Nadalin (25911 ) From: +BillyG Monday, Dec 1 1997 8:34AM EST Reply # of 25920 More DVD mastering tools at lower prices................ Smart and Friendly Debuts the Ultimate DVD Mastering Tool CHATSWORTH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1997--Smart and Friendly Inc., a leader in CD-ROM and optical storage technology, today announced the DVD Deck, a complete development subsystem that will allow users to master multiple 4.7 GB DVD-ROM projects on a single Type IIIxt DLT cartridge. The output of the Smart and Friendly DVD Deck meets the requirements of the leading DVD replication plants. "As DVD-ROM emerges as the next major breakthrough in optical storage, Smart and Friendly offers content creators the means to take advantage of the benefits of the technology. The DVD Deck provides the ultimate platform for our customers to master multiple full 4.7 GB DVDs," said Perry Solomon, president and CEO of Smart and Friendly. The DVD Deck will provide full software support for DVD-R. The subsystem creates output in both Universal Data Format (UDF) and hybrid ISO 9660/UDF. The DVD Deck is approximately half the price of DVD-R technology and is far more reliable. The DLT tape cartridges for the DVD Deck hold multiple complete DVD-ROM projects and can be reused one million times. In contrast, only a partial DVD-ROM will fit on an expensive piece of DVD-R media that can only be used once, a major content and cost issue for content creators. An external subsystem, the DVD Deck has a sustained data transfer rate of up to 10 MB/sec and features a SCSI-2 fast/wide interface. Smart and Friendly predicts a head life of 30,000 hours and a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 300,000 hours at a 20 percent duty cycle. DLT is considered the defacto industry standard in the mid-range tape market. The technology is currently being used primarily to back up data on mid-range and high-end computer systems. "We are using DLT -- an established, bullet-proof storage technology -- as a bridge to the emerging technology of DVD-ROM," continued Mr. Solomon. "This helps assure our customers that the mastering platform they are purchasing provides the performance and reliability they need." To provide content providers with a complete DVD-ROM solution, the DVD Deck includes Gear DVD mastering software, valued at $2,995. The Smart and Friendly DVD Deck will be available in December, with an anticipated street price of $9,999. Smart and Friendly Inc. is recognized as the world's largest privately-held manufacturer of CD-Recordable, CD-ReWritable, CD-ROM and optical storage technology. The company's storage solutions are available to resellers through Ingram Micro, Merisel, MicroAge and Tech Data. End-users may purchase these solutions from CDW, CompUSA, Data Vision, Fred Meyer, Fry's Electronics, The Good Guys, J&R Computer World, Micro Center, Micro Warehouse, Nebraska Furniture Mart, PC Connection, and other locations where computer products are sold. Unlike its competitors, Smart and Friendly offers free technical support on toll-free lines. Smart and Friendly understands that consumers appreciate market-smart and user-friendly solutions that never compromise quality and reliability. The company delivers solutions to the consumer, corporate, government, and education markets, providing each customer with the ultimate out-of-box experience. Smart and Friendly combines cutting-edge hardware -- CD-Recorders, CD-ROM jukeboxes and CD-ROM network towers -- with powerful software suites to provide complete, "must-have" solutions. For product and sales information, contact Smart and Friendly at 20520 Nordhoff Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311; Internet smartandfriendly.com; phone 800/959-7001 or 818/772-8001, fax 818/772-2888. Keywords: Smart and Friendly, CD-R, optical, DVD, DLT, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, HP, Hewlett-Packard, Quantum, storage, tape CONTACT: Smart and Friendly Inc. Perry Solomon, 818/772-8001 Perry888@aol.com or Shotwell Public Relations Inc. Louie Yan, 408/727-4356 louieyan@pacbell.net