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

To: John Rieman who wrote (31959)	4/8/1998 12:09:00 AM
From: George Thompson	Respond to of 50808

John, Looks like the pc faction got their way. This is a decision that Bob Wright must have made after talking to Microsoft and Sony. We are married to both. I am disappointed to say the least. The thinking is that we will provide a digital signal to the affiliates and they will do what they want to with it. The plant is being built to handle HDTV. Unfortunately, there is not enough equipment available and it is not very compatible. I think as suggested in another posting that compatibility problems led to that decision. It was nice to see Microsoft and Sony agree to 1080I as ideal HDTV format. I won't waste my own money on anything short of full HDTV. Later, GEorge

To: John Rieman who wrote (31959)	4/8/1998 9:50:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Creative's PC-DVD technology (dxr2, CUBE inside), receives worldwide acclaim...... newsalert.com << MILPITAS, Calif., April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Creative Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREAF), the world's leading provider of multimedia products for the PC, has received numerous awards and top product reviews worldwide for its industry-leading PC-DVD Encore Dxr2 technology. These international accolades, recognized as some of the industry's most prestigious honors, emphasize the superior quality and performance of Creative's PC-DVD Encore, and validate the company's leadership position in the PC-DVD upgrade market. At a US$299.99 price point, PC-DVD Encore is a compelling solution for PC users interested in the mass storage capacity (up to 17 gigabytes), as well as the exciting audio and video experience PC-DVD brings to the desktop. Among the honors Creative's PC-DVD Encore has received are Computer Reseller News' "Editors' Choice Award" -- which singled out Creative's PC-DVD bundle as one of the easiest upgrades to install and use, and one of the fastest DVD-ROM drives tested. The PC-DVD Encore garnered a "Best Buy" review from PC World and an "Editors' Choice" review from PC Gamer. Windows Magazine praised PC-DVD Encore for its outstanding picture quality and easy installation in a review titled: "Standing Ovation for PC-DVD Encore." In addition, this outstanding review placed PC-DVD Encore on Windows Magazine's "Winlist" where the best of the best products are highlighted. After reviewing the PC-DVD Encore, Computer Buyer's Guide and Handbook told readers: "If you plan to upgrade your CD-ROM drive, definitely consider Creative's PC-DVD. It is well worth the investment and easy to install. The video and audio results are fantastic." The PC-DVD Encore features breakthrough developments such as DynamicXtended Resolution (Dxr2), and improved sound and video playback. The Dxr2 decoder board features a picture enhancement technology that gives PC-DVD Encore smoother, crisper, high-definition video playback when compared with today's DVD solutions. Additionally, PC-DVD Encore provides awesome video and audio enabled by MPEG2 compression and Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio output which delivers a truly immersive cinematic experience.>>

To: John Rieman who wrote (31959)	4/8/1998 10:04:00 AM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Interesting PC-TV discussion from NAB. INTC, MSFT, Compaq, Lucent, Intel, Matsushita, and others are mentioned. The All Format Decoder developed by Hitachi and used by Intel could avoid the need for an MPEG-2 decoder "in theory," but you would get a "crude" TV picture in a corner of your PC monitor........... techweb.cmp.com <<In his keynote speech yesterday, Ron Whittier, senior vice president at Intel, announced that the Santa Clara, Calif., microprocessor giant has formally licensed the all-format decoder (AFD) algorithm from Hitachi. By further optimizing the AFD software technology on Pentium, Whittier demonstrated yesterday that it can decode a 720-line progressive-scan (720p) DTV stream and display it at 360p, in full screen at 30 frames per second, on a PC running on a Pentium II at 300 MHz. The AFD holds promise for PC vendors looking for a way to decode all 18 DTV formats specified by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) on without adding an extra MPEG-2 decoder IC. It matches with Intel's double goals for DTV decoding on a PC: "Don't add cost" and "Do [it] all in software," according to Whittier. Whittier, however, acknowledged that his company's engineering team has yet to optimize the software-only AFD to achieve a 720p native decode and display. "That's what's next." Whittier also acknowledged that decoding a 1,080i HDTV stream on a PC using the AFD is "in a preliminary engineering phase" and will look "still crude" by the end of this year, when major networks broadcast their first DTV programs. At that point, PCs with the AFD and no extra hardware will likely not be up to the task of decoding programs in full screen. The good news is that the AFD will keep the PC from going dark. If a PC user wants to decode 1,080i in a small window, the AFD could allow that today "in theory," said Mark Richmond, business unit manager for broadcast products at Intel.>>