RAVISENT Announces CinePlayerô Media Suite

New Brand Name Highlights New Products, New Technologies, New Integrated Solutions Approach

11-May-00

RAVISENT Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:RVST) announced the launch of the CinePlayerô Media Suite, an integrated family of digital audio and video playback solutions for personal computers.Developed using RAVISENT's family of industry leading software components for digital multimedia and datacasting processing, the CinePlayer family offers consumers a single look-and-feel PC solution for interactive playback of a wide variety of multimedia formats - including CD audio, MPEG audio, MPEG video, DVD, DolbyÆ Digital audio, MP3 audio, LPCM audio, digital television (DTV), analog (traditional) television, high definition television (HDTV), and ""time-shifted"" television broadcasts (so-called digital video recorder files or DVR).Initially available through PC OEMs and IHVs, the first members of the CinePlayer Media Suite to be announced are CinePlayer, CinePlayer DVR, and CinePlayer DTV. CinePlayer is an all-software media player supporting a wide variety of formats, including DVD. This enhanced and re-architected solution replaces RAVISENT's previous Software CineMasterÆ DVD product. CinePlayer DVR is a software-based solution that allows PC/TV consumers to view, record and ""time shift"" live television broadcasts. CinePlayer DTV is a software solution allowing consumers to watch full quality digital television broadcasts, including HDTV, on their PCs. Both CinePlayer and CinePlayer DVR are available to OEMs for evaluation immediately. The final production version of CinePlayer DTV will be available shortly.Known in the past for its CineMaster software solution for DVD playback on PCs, RAVISENT also announced that it will retain the CineMaster brand name for its family of individual digital video technology components - including decoders, encoders, broadcast stream managers, APIs, and secure playback modules. Implemented in a variety of formats, including as MicrosoftÆ DirectShowô filters, these components are immediately available separately to OEMs and IHVs for integration with third party elements to create customized media playback solutions.""We are tremendously excited to be able to offer our customers these first realizations of our vision of a modular architecture for truly interactive multimedia,"" stated Alan McCann, Senior Vice President and General Manager of RAVISENT's PC and CE Group. ""Only a integrated set of fully upgradable software solutions offers consumers the quality experience they demand, and OEMs the value and supportability they require."" About CinePlayerCinePlayer was developed using RAVISENT's CineMaster family of integrated software components for digital multimedia and datacasting processing. Incorporating the CineMaster digital audio/video decoder, CinePlayer is a high performance all-software PC media player solution designed to decode DVD, Video CD, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video streams; as well as CD audio, Dolby Digital, LPCM, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 digital audio formats. The application shares the same robust software core as the CineMaster family of products that are in use by major PC OEMs, video graphics and video game manufacturers. CinePlayer and the CineMaster family of digital media components assist OEMs to meet rapidly changing consumers preferences in record time at a low cost. CinePlayer is the first software-based DVD solution that can be integrated with a family of digital media processing components to deliver both decoding and encoding capabilities, as well as supporting cutting-edge HDTV (High Definition Television) decoding on multimedia PCs. About CinePlayer DVR CinePlayer DVR was developed using RAVISENT's CineMaster family of integrated software components for digital multimedia and datacasting processing. Incorporating both the CineMaster Decoder and the CineMaster RT Encoder, CinePlayer DVR is a high performance software-based solution designed to provide PC/TV consumers with the ability to view, record and ""time-shift"" their live broadcast video and other sources of analog video input. With CinePlayer DVR, the viewer can pause, rewind and playback video at any chosen point, all while recording the entire program in the background. By using a software-based approach incorporating market-proven CineMaster components, RAVISENT enables PC/TV OEMs to deliver a high quality, low-cost DVR solution all in software. About CinePlayer DTV CinePlayer HDTV was developed using RAVISENT's CineMaster family of integrated software components for digital multimedia and datacasting processing. Incorporating both the CineMaster Decoder and the CineMaster Broadcast Stream Manager, CinePlayer HDTV is the first all-software digital broadcast playback solution for personal computers to fully support high-definition digital television (HDTV). The CineMaster Decoder incorporates newly-developed, advanced proprietary algorithms enabling the decoding and playback of both DVB-T and DVB-S digital broadcasting formats, as well as all eighteen (18) digital television formats specified by the Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) - including all the high definition television (HDTV) formats. The CineMaster Broadcast Stream Manager incorporates proprietary software technology for full transport de-multiplexing with enhanced stream management for audio/video pacing and buffers management, as well as full IP data handling capabilities. The eighteen ATSC formats were adopted in 1996 by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as the standards for digital television in the USA. A number of television stations throughout the US already broadcast digital broadcast signals. All FCC-licensed stations are required to completely convert to digital television broadcasting by 2006. About CineMasterCineMaster is a fully integrated family of digital media processing components supporting the most popular digital audio and video industry standards. The family includes the CineMaster Decoder, CineMaster RT Encoder, CineMaster Broadcast Stream Manager, broadcast tuners, datacasting processors/viewers, a modular user interface architecture, advanced rights protection modules, and flexible APIs. Based on a platform-independent fully modular architecture, and available as a series of Microsoft DirectShow filters, CineMaster components allow for easy integration with third party elements, enabling the rapid creation of targeted software solutions for individual OEMs. About RAVISENT Technologies Inc. RAVISENT provides digital video, audio and Internet appliance technology to industry leading PC, Consumer Electronic and Internet Appliance OEMs, empowering them to deliver highly competitive, cost-effective products with a strong time to-market advantage. RAVISENT software and intellectual property is contained in products from Compaq, Dell Computer, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Micron, Fujitsu, Quantex, Sony, Tottori-Sanyo, Vestel, Yamaha, ATI Technologies, C-Cube, ST Microelectronics, Telecom Italia, Met@box, Formenti and IPM. Founded in 1994, RAVISENT is a global company, headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with offices in Silicon Valley (California), Seattle, Washington, Germany and Japan. More information about RAVISENT can be found at www.ravisent.com.

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