Plextor Introduces First PC-Based Personal Video Recorder with MPEG-4 and DivX Hardware Compression

Business Wire, Sept 13, 2004

FREMONT, Calif. -- Users Can Pause Live TV and Record Favorite Shows on Personal Computers; DivX Format Offers Nearly 300% More Compression than MPEG-2

Plextor(R) Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the new ConvertX(TM) PVR model PX-TV402U with built-in TV tuner. The new PX-TV402U captures and records broadcast, cable, or satellite TV onto a computer hard drive using the DivX(R), MPEG-4, MPEG-2, or MPEG-1 formats. Users can watch, pause, and record live TV, or use an integrated electronic programming guide (EPG) to schedule recordings with a single mouse click.

Unlike PVRs that connect to a television set, the PX-TV402U does not require a monthly service fee; it allows users to burn their favorite programs and home videos onto CDs and DVDs using their computer's CD or DVD recorder; and it supports real-time hardware encoding to DivX and MPEG-4. DivX offers three times greater compression than MPEG-2 without quality loss, so a two-hour movie occupies less than 2GB of drive space at the highest quality DivX setting. DivX files are even small enough to play on portable devices like cell phones, PDAs and personal video players. The PX-TV402U is a DivX Certified hardware encoder ensuring the video files created can be played back in all DivX Certified players.

"The PX-TV402U is a cost-effective way for any home PC user to get all the same benefits of having an expensive DVR hooked up to the television set in their living room, including being able to watch all their favorite shows whenever they want," said Dirk Peters, director of marketing, Plextor. "But the PX-TV402U has the additional advantage of being connected to the PC so users can easily add hard disk storage when they want more capacity, they can burn CDs and DVDs using their CD/DVD burner and they can have access to the Internet so they can share their favorite videos and home movies with peers. PC based PVRs combine the benefits of a TV based PVR with the power and flexibility of a PC."

ConvertX PVR PX-TV402U

Plextor ConvertX PVR video capture devices record video to personal computers for editing, storing, and sharing. In addition to recording programs, movies, and sports events from the built-in TV tuner, the PX-TV402U also supports RCA composite audio/video input and S-Video input connections for capturing home video from such sources as camcorders, DVD players, and VCRs.

The PX-TV402U includes InterVideo WinDVR 5 software. During live television viewing, WinDVR supports all of the time-shifting features normally associated with PVRs, including pausing live TV, skipping forward and instant replays.

For TV recording, Plextor tightly integrated TitanTV(R), a free web-based Electronic Program Guide from Decisionmark(TM), with WinDVR 5. A user simply selects the EPG button in the WinDVR 5 software to bring up a picture-in-picture screen containing the TitanTV.com web site. A single mouse-click over a program listing schedules it to record.

After a TV program or home video has been captured and recorded, the PX-TV402U makes it easy to burn it to a DVD (or VCD), mini-DVD, AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, ASF, WMV, or DivX(TM) movie. If users want to edit their recordings or re-author their discs they can use WinDVD Creator 2 to create the perfect videos with titles, transitions, special effects, music, and menus.

Recommended System

Nori -- Personal computer system with a minimum Pentium(R) III 800 MHz and Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or faster suggested processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB of free hard drive space; Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) XP Pro/Home/2000 operating system; Windows compatible AGP or PCI graphic card; Windows compatible sound card with support for 48-KHz playback (PCI recommended); and USB 2.0 port. A CD-R/RW or RDVD disk drive is required for CD or DVD creation.

Personal computer system with a Pentium(R) 4 1.8 GHz or faster processor, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB hard drive; Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) XP Pro/Home/2000 operating system; Windows compatible AGP or PCI graphic card; Windows compatible sound card with support for 48-KHz playback (PCI recommended); and USB 2.0 port. A CD-R/RW or RDVD disk drive is required for CD or DVD creation.

Pricing and Availability

The PX-TV402U is scheduled for shipment to distributors and resellers in North and South America in September of 2004. The PX-TV402U has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $199.99 USD. All retail packages include unlimited toll-free technical support and one-year full warranty.

About Plextor

Plextor Corp. is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment for professionals, consumers, and enterprises. Headquartered in Silicon Valley since 1990, Plextor has introduced generations of award-winning products, including digital video converters and CD-R/RW, DVD R/RW, and DVD /-R/RW optical disk drives. Plextor is privately owned by Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of advanced technology hardware and precision electronic equipment headquartered in Japan.