Mediamatics' Intros First MPEG Accelerator Chip For Microsoft's ACTIVEMOVIE; IC Halves Accelerator Board Costs, Eases Home PC Upgrades and Provides Independence from Graphics Subsystems

Business Wire, March 4, 1996

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1996--Mediamatics Inc., the number one supplier of MPEG-1 decoding technology, today announced the first integrated audio/video MPEG-1 accelerator IC.

It supports Microsoft's ACTIVEMOVIE architecture and enables under $100 list prices for MPEG add-in cards.

The MX501 ARCADE Accelerator fuels both Mediamatics' MPEG ARCADE Player, the defacto MPEG-1 software decompression solution for Windows'95 and Microsoft's new ACTIVEMOVIE multimedia architecture.

The MX501 accelerate the compute intensive tasks of software decompression using Mediamatics' Collaborative Compression Architecture (CCA). The result is full-motion video (30 frames-per-second) playback, CD quality audio and very low CPU utilization. It enables a seamless, low-cost PC upgrade from software to hardware assisted MPEG playback, independent from any graphics subsystem.

Offering the lowest system cost to OEMs, an MPEG card bill-of-materials is less than $35 as compared to $100 for existing solutions. The MX501 is available now at $23. MX501-based accelerator boards from major manufacturers should be on dealer's shelves by the end of Q2 1996.

First ACTIVEMOVIE Accelerator

Microsoft's ACTIVEMOVIE architecture, also announced today, contains previously licensed Mediamatics' MPEG-1 software technology. The MX501 chip provides hardware acceleration to the MPEG software in ACTIVEMOVIE.

"Our partnership with Mediamatics has been very fruitful for both companies and we welcome their continued support of our ACTIVEMOVIE and DIRECT MPEG technology with the introduction of the MX501 accelerator," said Paul Osborne, director of multimedia, Microsoft Corporation.

Software designers can now provide more innovative MPEG content based on ACTIVEMOVIE.

"Mediamatics' chip opens new vistas for developers," said Ed Heinbockel, CEO of software publisher Tsunami Media. "MPEG video has traditionally been a rather hard and inflexible environment, but the MX501 changes all that by allowing video and audio manipulation in truly creative ways. This new freedom will help us achieve next generation MPEG quality for our latest title, Crazy Eights."

Instant Home PC Retrofit

The MX501 accelerates Mediamatics' existing MPEG ARCADE decompression software introduced Feb. 14, 1995. ARCADE Player is being shipped by major computer OEMs including Compaq, Gateway2000, Hewlett-Packard, NEC Technologies, Toshiba and others. While the ARCADE Player software provides basic playback such as AM quality audio, accelerator boards based on MX501 will provide CD quality audio with low CPU overhead, making room for next generation technologies such as 3D graphics. -0-

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