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

To: Tim Esser who wrote (40282)	4/28/1999 9:15:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

DVD-PC decode hardware is lossing ground to software................ nikkeibp.com The color video encoder/decoder chip (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group Phase 2, or MPEG-2 chip) dropped from second place in 1997, to 13th position. Expectations regarding dedicated chips have dimmed because most MPEG-2 decode-processing can now be handled by PC software. With the appearance of the successor to the Pentium II in 1999 (codename: Katmai), enhanced multimedia data processing functions will make MPEG-2 decode-processing even easier. ********************************************************************** DVD-recordable is the number one new tech, but you can't buy it now.................................. DVD Recorders Yet to Appear Amongst all of the DVD products that have generated so much expectation within the industry, the number-one ranked DVD recorder has yet to even appear on shelves. DVD recorders store video data on rewritable DVD media. NEC Corp of Japan has plans to release a system that uses its multimedia video file (MMVF) phase-change optical disk, which holds 5.2 Gbytes on a side, in 1999. Pioneer Electronic Corp of Japan is considering producing a system that uses a single-sided 4.7-Gbyte DVD-RW disk, and firms including Hitachi Ltd and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Ltd, both of Japan, are looking at systems that use 4.7-Gbyte DVD random-access memory (RAM) media. In spite of great interest generated in the industry, it is still unclear whether DVD recorders will sell well in 1999. There are still multiple standards (MMVF, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, etc) for rewritable DVD, and this makes it impossible for consumers to make purchases without worrying about compatibility. Manufacturers are less than eager to market their wares, because the framework for collecting digital video recording fees is not yet officially in place.