DV Studio Technologies to Exhibit New MPEG-2 Encoders At CeBit -- Hanover, Germany, Hall 9 - J7
03/16/99
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 1999, Business Wire)
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 1999--DV Studio Technologies will exhibit its high-quality, real-time MPEG-2 encoder -- Apollo Expert -- at CeBit, Hanover, Germany from March 18 through March 24.
According to Linus Lee, vice president of International Sales, this product will create a great deal of interest at the tradeshow. "Normally, a system that does professional MPEG-2 compression and Dolby Digital audio can cost up to a quarter million dollars ... Apollo Expert will sell for less than $2,000," said Lee. The company plans to meet qualified distributors and systems integrators from more than 90 countries at the CeBit show.
After years of development at the DV Studio Technologies R&D center in Irvine, the Apollo Expert is considered the first of its kind. "It was quite a challenge to come up with a next-generation product at a fraction of the current cost," said Dr. Ash Pahwa, chief executive officer. "Timing is more important than anything else when DVD , video streaming and Internet broadcasting are the hottest ticket in town."
MPEG has become the dominant compression format for video distribution, and Apollo Expert provides unlimited opportunities in a variety of applications -- ranging from prosumer-oriented event videography to professional-level television and newsroom production systems.
One of the key features of the Apollo Expert is its ease of use. Multiple stations with several ultra-long ISA cards that usually come with noisy fans are no longer required. Apollo Expert is a half-size PCI card that can easily be installed in any Pentium-based computer, and even a novice can become a pro in a matter of a few experiments.
According to one of the company's beta test customers, Chris Fassnacht, "the video from the board looks beautiful, even at only 3Mbits/sec. For only double the standard MPEG-1 data rate, the picture looks 1000% better."
The video quality is the main strength of the encoder. A benchmark based on 3Mbps (megabits per second) has shown that the Apollo Expert outperforms cards costing between $30,000 to $250,000. It can encode at bit rates as high as 50 Mbps and features ML@MP encoding with 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 Chroma capabilities. The card supports both NTSC and PAL formats with a wide range of resolutions from D1, 2/3 D1, half D1 to MPEG-1.
DV Studio Technologies has received positive feedback from a variety of firms. For example, Hitachi America, Ltd. and DV Studio Technologies have demonstrated the Hitachi GF-1050 DVD -RAM drive with Apollo Expert in real-time encoding and playback environments. Each DVD -RAM disc (capacity 5.2 GB) can hold approximately three hours of DVD -quality MPEG-2 video and audio.
"The Apollo Expert from DV Studio Technologies is a big step in the convergence of digital media products for professional and consumer applications," said Werner Glinka, senior director of Marketing, Optical and Multimedia Products, for Hitachi America, Ltd.
"Resellers will be able to offer exciting new, cost-effective solutions that combine DVD -RAM with powerful real-time video editing and compression. Bringing this new class of capability to the personal computer market is exactly what Hitachi's DVD -RAM products are all about," added Glinka.
Pioneer has also confirmed compatibility of its upcoming DVD -R/RW with Apollo Expert. In addition, the award-winning DVD authoring software -- Minerva's Impression -- is fully compatible with Apollo Expert.
DV Studio Technologies manufactures Apollo MPEG encoder products. The company's mission is to create digital video and audio affordable to DVD , DVD -ROM, broadcast, video conferencing and Internet. The company was founded in 1986, when it introduced pre-mastering software CD-Gen.
DV Studio Technologies built MPEGCamera MPEG-1 encoder in 1994 and then a low-cost MPEG-1 encoder Apollo 1, Apollo2, Apollo3 and Apollo4/TV in early 1997/1998. The company's product lines include Apollo Expert (MPEG-2), Apollo Express (MPEG-2), Apollo Station (MPEG-2), and Apollo 4/TV (MPEG-1).
Contact: CONTACT: DV Studio Technologies LLC, Irvine Dr. Ash Pahwa, 949/453-1702 Fax: 949/453-1311 Web: www.dv-studio.com e-mail: linus@dv-studio.com
10:00 EST MARCH 16, 1999
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