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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: VICTORIA GATE, MD who wrote (68690)	11/17/1998 10:03:00 PM
From: Ex-INTCfan	Respond to of 186894

VG, Hi. Is the the rising Sun? INTCfan

To: VICTORIA GATE, MD who wrote (68690)	11/18/1998 2:10:00 AM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 186894

Victoria, Article...Video Improves Its Image... November 18, 1998 PC Week : Videoconferencing from a desktop PC is just not what it used to be. It's better. Desktop-based videoconferencing products are gaining many of the features found in higher-priced models, including 30-fps (frame-per-second) quality, full- screen video and IP networking. PictureTel Corp., for example, recently boosted the rate of its LiveLAN desktop videoconferencing system from 15 fps to 30 fps. "The 3.1 release brings quality improvements and a better visual experience," said Patrick Gilman, product manager for PictureTel, in Andover, Mass. "With LiveLAN, users can videoconference over an IP network without leaving their desk." LiveLAN is priced at $1,195 and includes a codec add-in board, camera and microphone. In the newest version of Intel Corp.'s ProShare Video System 500, the video image is full-screen, and the product is designed for simple installation. "We set out to make a card that can be installed in a PC in 30 minutes or less," said Mike Witteman, director of product development for Intel, in Hillsboro, Ore. Priced at $799, the ProShare system includes a camera and a single half- length PCI card with color-coded connectors to ease installation. Sorenson Vision Inc., maker of the upcoming EnVision desktop videoconferencing product, improved video quality through an on-board ASIC. "We moved the audio and video processing off the host," said Ray Brooksby, vice president of sales and marketing for Sorenson Vision, in Logan, Utah. The result is a lower required bandwidth, about 128K bps, and the capability to set bandwidth limits on a videoconferencing call. Now in beta testing, the EnVision system is slated to ship in the first quarter of next year. It will be priced at about $750 without a camera. Video over IP The other significant trend in desktop videoconferencing is running it over IP networks. "There are many more people becoming interested in LAN-based videoconferencing deployment vs. ISDN," said Greg Eckstein, group manager of PC clients for PictureTel. While the volume of sales is still in ISDN-based products, IP networking is catching on. "Major customers are upgrading their networking infrastructures to IP, and more people are looking at videoconferencing as a key application for ATM," Eckstein said. Vtel Corp. last month added IP networking capabilities to its SmartStation desktop videoconferencing unit by adding support for the H.323 LAN standard. Previously, SmartStation supported only ISDN-based connections (H.320). "Now, if you are on an IP network, you can connect with IP or ISDN without changing anything in your product," said Vinay Goel, vice president and general manager of Vtel's Personal and Workgroup Business Unit, in Austin, Texas. Vtel this month started shipping a Gatekeeper module that will automatically determine if someone has an IP address or an ISDN line and make the appropriate connection. The newest release of SmartStation includes Vtel's Smart Video Network Manager, which uses SNMP agents to remotely diagnose videoconferencing systems. "A network administrator can go to each of 10 sites before the call is set up to make sure everything is in order," Goel said. SmartStation is priced from $1,500 for a 128K-bps version that includes a board, a camera and a microphone. Intel also delivers both IP and ISDN videoconferencing in one desktop product, ProShare, with the capability to automatically differentiate between ISDN and LAN calls built-in. "If I want to make a [videoconferencing] call, I don't need to know if it's ISDN- or LAN-based, I just run one application," Intel's Witteman said. "Videoconferencing is one of the reasons that people are investing in IP-based, multimedia networks." IP networking now represents more than 50 percent of revenues for Dallas-based Vcon Inc., maker of the Escort and Cruiser desktop videoconferencing lines. "A year ago, I would have said IP readiness is more for investment protection, but today a lot of customers have their IP networks up and running, " said Gordon Daugherty, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Vcon. The $1,000-$5,000 Cruiser line supports both ISDN- and LAN-based videoconferencing, while the $800 Escort is LAN-only. To enhance video quality, all Vcon desktop videoconferencing systems now support 768K-bps throughput rates, and the Cruiser 384 model includes a single card for both IP and 384K-bps ISDN.