These guys sure can spin a PR....
Sigma Designs, Minerva Systems Deliver End-to-End Broadband Video
Sigma Designs' MPEG-2 Decoding, Minerva Systems VNP Appliance Provide IS, Network Managers with Seamless Video Performance for Internet, Intranet, Extranet Applications
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1999-- Sigma Designs, Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGM - news) and Minerva Systems, Inc. announced the completion of a series of videoconferencing and real-time video field tests.
Built around Minerva's video network platform (VNP) appliance and Sigma's NetStream 2 hardware decoder, the end-to-end solution provides high-performance, economical video streaming. Using the two firms' video-enabling and delivery solutions, corporate IS and network managers can deploy broadcast-quality video applications across Internet Protocol (IP) networks, including Internet-based corporate- wide area networks (WANs).
The Minerva/Sigma Designs end-to-end solution is being featured at NetWorld+Interop at the Sigma Designs booth -- No. 2452 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
''These are complementary technologies that provide the best price/performance solution for organizations that want and need a turnkey, integrated broadband IP-based video solution,'' commented Marshall Goldberg, Sigma's product marketing manager. ''This solution is perfect for organizations that want to put video on every desktop, whether it's for corporate training, telemedicine, or news broadcasts. The IP multicast technique puts much less strain on network resources than video-on-demand and is perfect for Ethernet, ATM, DirecPC, or DVB satellite environments.''
More than simply an encoding and decoding video signal solution, organizations using the VNP can implement easily configurable highly manageable, and scalable real-time video streaming, training, education, telemedicine, and other video-on-demand, multicasting, and simulcasting applications. Unlike conventional PC server-based solutions, Minerva Systems' technology incorporates advanced network capabilities as well as variable bit rate (VBR) and variable frame rate (VFR) encoding. When the live or requested video streams are received by client PCs equipped with Sigma's REALmagic NetStream 2 cards, the video is decoded using Sigma's industry-standard technology to provide clear, crisp MPEG-2 playback at the desktop without affecting CPU throughput or performance.
''Software and so-called general-purpose PC-based products aren't up to the task in today's IP-based multimedia communications environment,'' Reed Majors, Director of Video Networking Products for Minerva, pointed out. ''The Sigma/Minerva solution eliminates the management, maintenance, and extensibility questions for corporate IS and network managers. When they integrate video conferencing and video-on-demand applications into their legacy systems, they can deliver next-generation performance without having to upgrade all of their hardware or worry about the IP infrastructure's ability to deliver high-quality video.''
Minerva Systems VNP appliances are MPEG encoders that have been designed into turnkey subsystems that incorporate the latest in embedded processors, real-time operating system, and VLSI technologies. Sigma's NetStream 2 decoder cards are installed in client PCs to decode video streams. The two firms' products have already been installed in multiple customer environments to deliver robust video multicasting and video conferencing solutions for satellite and ATM delivery mechanisms.
Pricing and Availability
Available now, the Minerva VNP starts at $6,900 for MPEG-1 and low bit rate MPEG-2 encoding.
Corporate Profiles
Minerva Systems, Inc. is the leading supplier of high-quality MPEG-based digital video publishing and distribution solutions. Minerva's products are used in post-production facilities; DVD replication facilities; telephone and cable television network facilities; advertising agencies; educational institutions; and corporations worldwide. Minerva is backed by leading venture capital firms, including Accel Partners, Kodak Corporation's Aperture Fund, Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre, U.S. Venture Partners, and ETF. Minerva Systems is located at 1585 Charleston Road, Mountain View, CA, 94043. Tel.: 650/940-1383 Fax: 650/940-1450. URL:http://www.minervasys.com.
Founded in 1982, Sigma Designs develops and manufactures high-performance products based on the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) standard for compressing and decompressing digital audio and video signals for video and audio playback solutions, as well as advanced multimedia chipsets for the corporate, educational, and consumer markets. All Sigma Designs products are sold worldwide through a network of dealers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For additional information, call 800/845-8086 or 408/262-9003, fax 408/957-9740, or visit the company's web site at sigmadesigns.com.
Editors and Analysts: For further information, photographs, and interviews, please contact Andy Marken, marken@cerf.net or 408/986-0100.
REALmagic and NetStream are trademarks, and Sigma Designs is a registered trademark of Sigma Designs. Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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