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

To: DiViT who wrote (36742)	10/14/1998 5:17:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

Panasonic to introduce editing systems based on DVxpress-MX. Many more will by NAB in April....................................... tvbeurope.com Return to baseband The smallest developments for DVCPRO shown at IBC will probably turn out to be the most significant. These are the chipsets which will enable the format to be used with lower cost products and to remove most barriers between it and the MPEG world. "Between now and the end of the year, C-Cube, Zoran and Divio will all be offering DVCPRO-25 compatible, and later DVCPRO-50, chipsets, which will help push forward the introduction of new products," says Michael Brinkman, director strategic development, Panasonic. Zoran and Divio will bring out single chip chipsets which will make it possible to produce lower cost products. But, more interesting to broadcasters is the C-Cube chip, which will cope with both DVCPRO and MPEG in multiple streams. The tiny DVxpress-MX combines a full DV codec and a full MPEG codec at "very high quality," and allows two stream editing of any of the formats from DV to MPEG-2 4:2:2. It also transcodes DV to MPEG, "as a way of providing transparency and quality at the same time," says Dr Didier LeGall, chief technology officer, C-Cube. "We believe there is much benefit having those things interact." However, the DV signal has to be returned to baseband (601) then recoded in MPEG -- inside the same chip, although LeGall claims the transitions are "seamless". So users can select whichever format they need to make the most efficient use of bandwidth. "Choose the right format for the right application," he says. He believes this will "simplify the production and distribution process and preserve content in the digital domain. Transcoding as we do it is no different from requantisation, so if you have to alter a rate in MPEG you would have a similar loss." C-Cube has created an algorithm for frame-accurate editing which is on both its MPEG-only DVxpress and the dual format DVxpress-MX, which allows users mix the two formats at will. To do this it transforms both to 601. The DVxpress-MX chip is available now, and Panasonic is going to introduce it soon in an editing system and video server. It will be included in many more products by NAB. DVxpress-MX will allow multiple generations (up to at least 10) of transcoding between DVCPRO-50 and MPEG 4:2:2, without quality loss. "But, it is very easy to screw it up," LeGall warns. Just a one pixel shift between pictures can make a huge difference. Even so, he maintains that the "chip is a great advance for broadcasters." He believes that MPEG is best for DVD and digital broadcast while DV (DVCPRO) is best for acquisition. Archive can be on DV or MPEG, and nonlinear editing "can and must be done with both formats. Therefore, DV and MPEG must co-exist."