Digital VCR And Time-Shift PC Products, Enabled By Stream Machine's MPEG-2 Codec, Debut At CeBIT

Stream Machine, a provider of innovative video and audio semiconductor solutions, announced that three new products for the PC, enabled by its SM2210 MPEG-2 video codec and Insta-Replay PCI card reference design, are being introduced at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. The PCI boards are from AVerMedia Solutions, AVIOSYS International and Yuan Yuan. The foundation for the Insta-Replay PCI reference design is the Stream Machine SM2210 MPEG-2 video encoder/decoder. The PCI cards exploit SM2210's unique combination of high image-quality at low bit rates to provide streaming video with DVD quality levels while consuming very little system storage. The SM2210's high integration and the Insta-Replay's low parts count make affordable real-time, full-resolution, full-frame rate streaming video. End products based on the Insta-Replay reference design will be approximately one-tenth the price of current products. ""The completeness of the Insta-Replay reference design enabled AVerMedia, AVIOSYS, and Yuan Yuan to quickly introduce new and affordable products in the exciting PC/Digital VCR, Time-Shift market,"" said Stream Machine's President and CEO Michael Canning. ""These products will take advantage of the SM2210's ability to encode DVD-quality video at just 2Mbps, increasing the number of hours that can be recorded on a PC's hard disk drive vs. competing MPEG-2 solutions."" Technology Breakthrough This breakthrough is made possible by Stream Machine's single chip MPEG-2 video CODEC solution, the SM2210. SM2210 supports real-time video encoding and decoding using a single-pass variable bit rate MPEG-2 encoding technique - providing higher video quality than traditional constant bit rate MPEG-2 encoding. This technology, along with the SM2210's other proprietary image enhancement processing, enables products based on the SM2210 to have record and playback quality that is visually equivalent to that of DVDs, but at much higher compression settings. This saves valuable hard disk space, enabling more hours of video to be stored per gigabyte. Because the single chip SM2210 is a true CODEC, performing both encode and decode functions, the total system cost is reduced compared to chip sets with separate MPEG-2 encoders and decoders. The SM2210 further reduces parts count and system cost by combining a high-degree of system integration with ease of design. For example, SM2210 eliminates costly glue logic by directly interfacing with popular NTSC/PAL video decoders, NTSC/PAL video encoders and PCI interface chips for PC applications. The SM2210 also cuts costs by requiring only 4MB of SDRAM for full resolution NTSC 30 frames-per-second MPEG-2 encoding. About Stream Machine's Insta-Replay Reference Design The Insta-Replay reference design is a complete MPEG-2 encoding and decoding PCI card. It is used as a platform to accelerate the development of PC-based digital video and audio add-in board end products, for applications that include: network streaming video, TV tuner board with time-shift and digital VCR capability, video capture and playback, consumer video and editing, video surveillance and video email. The Insta-Replay reference design comes complete, including software/firmware, schematics, bill of materials (BOM), Gerber files, and user documentation to enable products based on these reference designs to be brought quickly to high volume manufacturing. AvailabilityInsta-Replay Reference Design and SM2210 codec: the SM2210 single chip MPEG-2 video codec is in full production and available now. Pricing for SM2210 is $49 in 4,000 unit orders and less than $30 in high volumes. The Insta-Replay reference design is available now and priced at $5,000. AVerMedia Solutions' PCI Board: available May 2000 AVIOSYS International's DVD Plus 3000: available April 2000 Yuan Yuan's MPG-200S: available May 2000. About Stream Machine CompanyStream Machine Company provides audio and video solutions for the Internet, consumer electronics and personal computer markets. Stream Machine uses proprietary technology and techniques to bring to market cost effective semiconductors that implement industry standard audio and video algorithms, such as MPEG-2. Please visit the Stream Machine Web site for additional information at www.streammachine.com.About AVerMedia SolutionsAVerMedia is a major player in the convergence of digital video & communications. The company provides a full range of products of multiple input video surveillance cards, Prosumer video editing products, DV video editing products and home video surveillance products. AVerMedia is on the cutting edge of technology, finance, marketing, sales, production, and quality control. The company is recognized for its culture of creativity through its many patents. Please visit the AVerMedia Web site for additional information at www.avermedia.com.tw. About AVIOSYS InternationalAVIOSYS is in an effort to provide easy installation and user friendly interface for making VCDs in a tick! Real-time MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compression don't need a super PC with a huge hard drive! AVIOSYS provides for fast and easy production - even the professionals would like to use it. Please visit AVIOSYS Internationalís Web site for additional information at www.aviosys.com. About Yuan Yuan Yuan Yuan Enterprise Co., Ltd. is a leading R&D company and manufacturer of state-of-the-art multimedia products. Founded in 1991, Yuan entered the multimedia industry providing technical expertise in ASIC/hardware design, firmware/software application development, and board manufacturing. Yuan has never stopped its progress in researching and developing leading edge technology in the multimedia field. More than 2,000,000 MPEG-1 based products, 500,000 PC-TV Scan Converters and other similar products have been shipped to date. Currently, Yuan has more than 80 employees both at its headquarters and factory. Please visit AVIOSYS International Web site for additional information at www.yuan.com.tw.