Thanks Jon for the CUBE news, I guess CUBE hasn't released its announcement to Reuters or BusinessWire yet. Meanwhile, Zoran is still pushing SoftDVD...............
Zoran Announces Motion Compensation Licensing
Agreements With 10 Industry-Leading Graphics
Accelerator Companies
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1998--
Combination of Zoran's Motion Compensation Hardware Core and SoftDVD(tm) Offer OEMs The
Industry's Highest Quality/Performance
Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ:ZRAN), the world's leading supplier of DVD solutions for the PC,
announced today licensing agreements with ten industry-leading graphic accelerator companies to
deliver high-performance DVD software decoding for the multimedia PC. The industry's highest
performance DVD decoding is achieved by leveraging the motion compensation functionality of the
graphics accelerators in conjunction with Zoran's SoftDVD -- the only shipping software-only DVD
decoder. The ten companies have licensed the high-quality, technology-independent, motion
compensation VLSI core from Zoran and are in the process of integrating it into their future graphics
accelerator products. In addition, Zoran is collaborating with several VGA chip manufacturers to
adapt SoftDVD to the VGA companies' independently-developed motion compensation designs.
The relationships with a significant number of graphic accelerator companies demonstrates Zoran's
strategic direction to spearhead the field of motion compensation for low-cost multimedia DVD
playback in the PC. By providing a field-proven motion compensation core and SoftDVD software
from a single vendor, Zoran dramatically shortens the time-to-market for graphics companies and
PC OEMs. "We are very excited to announce such a strong line-up of partners," said Dr. Levy
Gerzberg, President & CEO of Zoran Corporation. "We are committed to working with all of the
leading graphics chip makers to ensure that SoftDVD becomes the industry standard for
software-based DVD playback on PCs. "The combination of our powerful motion compensation
hardware core and SoftDVD decoder provides our customers with a superior video subsystem. The
fact that the most prominent graphics companies have chosen to work with Zoran demonstrates the
price-performance leadership of SoftDVD, as well as our continued industry leadership in audio and
video compression technology." SoftDVD is already being used by leading PC OEMs, including
Compaq, Hewlett Packard and others. Zoran's SoftDVD Navigator, a component of SoftDVD is
also being used by IBM. When using motion compensation hardware and SoftDVD, manufacturers
can expect video frame-rate performance improvements of 30% to 40%, resulting in much better
video picture quality over standard all-software solutions. Future enhancements to both Zoran's and
its partners' technologies are expected to further increase video performance. Ten companies have
licensed Zoran's motion compensation core. The following comments are from some of the licensees:
IX MICRO
"Price point will be key to wide adoption of computer-based DVD video playback," said
Christopher Knight, IXMICRO Vice President of Graphics Marketing. "A software-only solution is
necessary to deliver the magic price point that will drive universal consumer acceptance. "Zoran's
VLSI core technology and SoftDVD promise high-quality software playback. With them,
IXMICRO will be able to offer a most cost-effective access to high frame-rate DVD playback as
an integrated component in our graphics hardware. We are confident that by partnering with Zoran
Corporation we are working with the market leader in DVD delivery technologies."
NVIDIA
"NVIDIA's leading-edge 3D graphics processors are already making a noticeable impact in the
marketplace," said Dan Vivoli, Vice President of Product Marketing at NVIDIA. "Zoran's SoftDVD
and motion compensation technology are key developments for the multimedia industry."
Silicon Motion
"Silicon Motion believes that DVD will be a 'must have' feature for the next generation of mobile
PCs," said Tony Man, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Silicon Motion. "Zoran's SoftDVD
and motion compensation core allows us to offer solutions with the best price/performance for the
mobile PC market." Several companies are collaborating with Zoran to bring SoftDVD support to
their future graphics accelerators with motion compensation. The following comments are from some
of them:
ATI Technologies (TSE:ATY)
"ATI was first to market with a graphics accelerator featuring motion compensation," said Henry
Quan, Vice President of Marketing at ATI Technologies. "We continue to enjoy a fruitful working
relationship with Zoran as we bring leading-edge software-based DVD playback to PCs."
Fujitsu
"We have adopted Zoran's SoftDVD to be a part of our future DVD playback products," said Al
Jauco, Director, Software/Hardware Engineering 3D Multimedia Products at Fujitsu. "The
combination of Zoran's SoftDVD and our upcoming technology will provide the high-quality,
sophisticated video needed on the PC."
Rendition
"Rendition's 3D graphics performance set an industry standard for integration and multi-functionality
that remains unmatched," said John Zucker, CEO of Rendition, Inc. "SoftDVD enables us to add a
very economical, yet high-performance, DVD playback solution to power-hungry PC gamers."
S3 (NASDAQ:SIII)
"As the world's largest supplier of graphics, video and multimedia accelerators, S3 has developed an
in-depth understanding of partitioning system resources to maximize performance and minimize
cost," said Michelle Belusar, Product Marketing Manager of S3. "By combining our multimedia
products featuring DVD acceleration with increasing CPU performance and DVD software
playback from Zoran, S3 delivers an optimal solution for next-generation DVD applications."
Zoran's process-independent motion compensation core uses less than 5,000 gates. It is one of
several low gate-count, technology-independent core products available for licensing from Zoran.
These cores have been successfully integrated into the silicon of major OEMs. Other Zoran cores
include MPEG2, AC-3 and NTSC/PAL Video Encoder. All Zoran cores, including the motion
compensation core, are available immediately. SoftDVD, a key component of Zoran's DVD
product family, is a complete software application program which enables PCs to play DVD content
at very low cost. In addition to supporting full resolution MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital and
Dolby Pro Logic audio playback for high-quality surround sound, SoftDVD also includes DVD
navigation, a graphical user interface, CSS copy protection, and 3D audio capabilities. SoftDVD is
available for evaluation by qualified OEMs. Zoran also offers a high-performance full hardware
DVD solution with Zoran's advanced Vaddis(tm) decoder and SoftDVD navigation.
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, California with additional
operations in Haifa, Israel; Toronto, Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. Zoran's products and technologies
are used by many of the world's largest PC, audio/video boards and home entertainment system
manufacturers For more information about Zoran call 408/919-4111 or contact the website at
www.zoran.com.
SoftDVD, Vaddis are trademarks of Zoran Corporation. Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic are
trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. MMX is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Note: Any
statements in this press release that may be considered forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Actual results may differ
from such forward-looking statements due to risk factors discussed in periodic reports filed by the
Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission which the Company urges investors to
consider.
CONTACT: Zoran
Tanya Del Vecchio, 408/919-4111
tanya@zoran.com
www.zoran.com
or
Virtual Public Relations
Carey Mitchell, 650/369-7833
carey@virtualpr.com
or
Financial Relations Board
Hannah Bruce, 415/986-1591
hbb@sf.frbd.com
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