The death of MPEG2 audio................................................
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DVD FORUM SNUBS PHILIPS
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It's official: the way is now clear for European DVD producers to add any kind of sound they wish to DVD-Video titles, in the wake of the DVD Forum decision to give Dolby AC-3 equal status with MPEG audio on PAL discs. Those who wish to use AC-3 multichannel do not have to encode additional MPEG two-channel audio or PCM stereo. It is a slap in the face for Philips but it could be argued that the company has only itself to blame. Late delivery of encoding kit and an already-established AC-3 standard meant that, as we predicted, MPEG-2's chances would be slim. They now look almost non-existent.
The Forum voted 8-2 vote for equal status; the only dissenters were Sony and Philips. Interestingly, Time Warner voted for the specification change - remember, Warner Home Video head Warren Lieberfarb offered the sole Hollywood commitment to MPEG-2 multichannel in August at IFA. If, as seems likely, WHV has abandoned its MPEG-2 audio plans, only Polygram - 75 per cent owned by Philips - can be expected to deliver titles using MPEG-2 audio.
The Forum acted, apparently, because Philips failed to meet its October deadline to deliver a 'faultless' MPEG-2 audio encoder. At our Versailles conference a fortnight ago, Bob Auger got the news that the MPEG-2 audio line was operational - alas, it came too late.
The degree of venom can be gauged by the vitriolic comments attributed to Koji Hase of Toshiba in the French newspaper Les Echos on 8 December:
Although the resolution clears the way for the emergence of AC-3 as the de facto standard, it looks as though consumers will still be forced to choose DVD-Video players very carefully. We reported last issue that multi-standard surround sound DVD players will be available. At least that is what we thought.
It now seems there are no guarantees that MPEG-2 audio compatible players will be available. Toshiba's Dr Vassilis Seferidis, head of advanced visual technology, told IM he was still waiting for MPEG-2 capable audio decoder chips to build into DVD-Video players. "When we get the chips, we will need about six months to integrate them in our DVD players. That's why we had the October deadline," he said. He added that Toshiba still plans to launch players in March. This means that Toshiba engineers will be working overtime to get MPEG-2 audio decoding capability into the first DVD-Video players, even if the chips arrive now. "If you can find someone who has MPEG-2 decoder chips available, let us know," he told us.
Well, we can. Cirrus Logic and its Crystal Semiconductor Products Division have announced the first multi-standard, multichannel audio decoder, the CS4925, for both AC-3 and 5.1 channel MPEG-2. Paul Reynolds, director of new business creation for Philips Components in the Netherlands commented in the Cirrus press release: "As we previously predicted, the technical log jam associated with implementing MPEG-2 multichannel audio will be short lived. World-class encoders and decoders from multiple sources have become available to eliminate the technical obstacles and no further industry fears remain for implementing DVD based MPEG-2 audio." According to Cirrus, samples of the chip were available to beta customers in October 1997 with qualified production parts available in January 1998.
If the Hi-Fi shops of London town are any measure, the demise of MPEG-2 is imminent. A quick trip to high-end dealer Musical Images in London's Covent Garden found sales personnel in good cheer at the news that MPEG-2 had been rescinded. One sales assistant told us that we would no longer have to buy an MPEG-2 multichannel decoder. "To me, AC-3 is number one, and I won't be promoting MPEG," Beckenham store manager Andy Butler told IM in a 'phone interview to clarify the position. "As far as I'm concerned, I would like to continue promoting AC-3. To me it's a better-sounding format."
In Brief
Toshiba says it will be the first Japanese DVD maker to market players in Europe when it launches its second-generation player - the SD-K310 - next Spring. Toshiba has announced the player specifications (AC-3 surround sound only, according to the Nikkei Industrial Daily) following the DVD Forum's decision to accord AC-3 equal status on European PAL DVD-Video discs. Toshiba plans initial sales in the UK, France and Italy and hopes to secure a 30 per cent market share throughout Europe.
Xing Technology Corp. has demonstrated StreamWorks 3.0, its file-based MPEG-2 and streaming MPEG-1 software for high-bandwidth consumers and corporate customers. It believes that high-bandwidth networks are on the verge of an explosion, and claims that StreamWorks will help drive demand for MPEG-2 delivery from DVD and in networked environments. Using multicast technology, StreamWorks can save network bandwidth by sending a single data stream to several desktops. Xing is also working, in partnership with Intel, on software-only real-time encoding and streaming of full-screen, full motion video.
Chip and software developer Oak Technology has released the Interactive DVD Browser Mapper (IDBM). This software allows DVD game and movie developers to create titles using the MCI standards, which will also support Microsoft's DirectShow DVD playback environment when it launches in 1998. This will, claims Oak, "save a whole generation of MCI titles from oblivion when Windows 98 arrives." Visit oaktech.com.
Toshiba: Philips Blamed for DVD Delay
In yesterday's Les Echos, the French financial newspaper, Koji Hase, director general of Toshiba's DVD division, is now blaming Philips for the delay [from Autumn 1997 until Spring 1998] because of its slowness in developing an encoding system for DVD-Video software. Mr Hase claimed that missing the Christmas market had cost the electronics and film industries up to FFr4bn ($670m) in lost European sales.
If the launch had gone ahead as planned, some 400,000 DVD-Video players, worth FFr2bn, could have been sold in Europe this year, he said, and FFr2bn worth of software. Philips dismissed Mr Hase's accusations as "untrue", but declined to comment further. "We don't want to get into a public fight over this," it said. |
