DVD playback

Emedia Professional, May, 1999

Panasonic Proves Less is More with New Portable DVD Player

Panasonic has released the smallest and lightest portable DVD player to date. The DVD-L50, which succeeds the company's DVD-L10 PalmTheater, weighs under 2 pounds. The portable player features a 5-inch diagonal, standard or wide-screen LCD monitor (4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio), and a credit card-sized remote control. New features include advanced virtual surround sound and DTS audio output. The unit's lithium ion battery pack helps keep the weight down and allows for three continuous hours of playback without recharging (with the built-in recharger). The DVD-L50 PalmTheater has a suggested retail price of $1,099.95.

(Panasonic Industrial Company, 1600 McCandless Drive, Milpitas, CA 99035; 408/942-2926; Fax 408/262-4214; http://www.panasonic.com)

Sigma Designs Announces REALmagic DVD Playback for Macs

Sigma Designs has teamed with Wired, Inc. to develop decoding technology for the Macintosh platform. Wired will provide Wired 4DVD, a DVD and MPEG-2 playback card for Macs. The PCI-based card, when used with a DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM drive, enables Mac users to view DVD-Video titles and other MPEG-2 data on their computer screen. Based on Sigma's EM8300 decoder IC, the Wired 4DVD card includes Mac drivers and plays DVD movies at up to 1600 x 1200 resolution without burdening the computer's processor as software-based solutions do. Wired 4DVD handles all complex MPEG-2 video and audio streams, thereby reducing the burden on the computer's CPU.

(Sigma Designs, 46501 Landing Parkway; Fremont, CA 94538; 800/845-8510; Fax 510/770-2640; http://www.sigmadesigns.com)