GoMotion Delivers High-Quality
MPEG-2 Files to Rewritable DVD Drive for Storage, Backup and
Low-Cost Distribution
MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--June 15, 1999-- Officials at Panasonic Industrial Company
and Ligos Technology jointly announced today that the Panasonic
LF-D101 DVD-RAM drive supports MPEG-2 video and multimedia files
encoded by Ligos' GoMotion(TM) software-only, real-time MPEG-2
encoding technology.
GoMotion provides corporate
in-house developers, OEMs, ISVs and IHVs with a cost-effective
means of delivering high-quality, full-motion video without the
additional cost of hardware encoders. With support for GoMotion
MPEG-2 encoded files, businesses and individuals will be able to
take advantage of the Panasonic LF-D101 drive's high capacity and
low-cost media for reliable storage of home videos, corporate
training and marketing films, and entertainment videos.
Recently enhanced with the ability
to provide single-pass variable bitrate (VBR) encoding in
real-time, GoMotion's new capabilities have been described as a
major breakthrough in MPEG-2 encoding technology. VBR encoding
raises the overall efficiency of the codec and eliminates some of
the quality problems that are otherwise unavoidable when using VBR,
including low quality in the highly active segments of the video.
The GoMotion codec is scalable for
all MMX(TM) and SSIMD-enabled Pentium processors. It performs
real-time, 30 frames-per-second, with full IPB frame compression
at D1 (720x480) pixel resolution on a 500 MHz Pentium III
processor, Half D1 (352x480) pixel resolution on a 350 MHz Pentium
II, and SIF (352x240) resolution on the 266MHz Pentium II
processor. Based on Ligos Technology's patent-pending
LightSpeed(TM) motion estimation algorithm, GoMotion technology is
being incorporated in products as diverse as ATI's All-in-Wonder
128 multimedia graphics boards and ICTV's ISX 2000 interactive
television system.
"GoMotion has made recording
MPEG-2 digital video in real-time affordable for millions of
users," said Jeff Saake, Group General Manager, Panasonic
Industrial Co., Computer Technology Group. "Initially, the
cost of creating full-motion, full-screen digital video images and
using a DVD-ROM or DVD-R drive to store them was very expensive;
but with Ligos' technology and the Panasonic DVD-RAM drive,
businesses and even home users have a low-cost solution that
doesn't compromise quality or reliability."
Panasonic's DVD-RAM drive provides
2.6GB of rewritable capacity on a single-sided disc (5.2GB on the
double-sided disc) for about $.008/MB, making it ideal for meeting
the enormous storage requirements of digital audio signals, 3-D
graphics, animation, and high-resolution videos. Designed for high
performance, the drive has a data transfer rate of up to 10.5Mbps
and a 120ms average seek time. To further enhance performance, the
drive includes a 2MB cache buffer.
"Panasonic's DVD-RAM drive
offers users a solution for storing large audio and video files,
and for archiving or transporting media to other computers," said
Peter Forman, president and chief executive officer of Ligos
Technology. "GoMotion is the technology of choice for
companies seeking real-time, high-quality, MPEG-2 encoding, with
all of the benefits and flexibility that only software can
provide."
Based on the rewritable DVD
standards approved by DVD Forum, the Panasonic DVD-RAM drive
provides a single solution for reading data, video clips and audio
files from both CDs and DVDs. The drive can read from discs
currently accepted by CD-ROM, CD Audio, CD-R, CD-RW and video CD
drives, as well as DVD video, DVD-ROM and DVD-R drives. Files
recorded to DVD-RAM media can also be played back on Panasonic's
current 5X and 6X DVD-ROM drives and future higher-speed DVD-ROM
drives.
Prices, Availability
The Panasonic LF-D101 DVD-RAM
drive is available as an internal drive with a SCSI-2 interface.
OEMs can purchase the drive from Panasonic Industrial Company.
Panasonic Document Imaging Company (PDIC) is also marketing
Panasonic brand DVD-RAM drives for an MSRP of $699. DVD-RAM media,
which is marketed under the Panasonic brand name, is also
available from several other leading manufacturers. The removable
double-sided 5.2GB disc has an MSRP of $39.95. The 2.6GB
single-sided media has an MSRP of $24.95 and is sold with a
removable cartridge for playback on the latest Panasonic 5X and 6X
DVD-ROM drives.
The GoMotion codec is available
for licensing as a Microsoft DirectShow filter and as a Video For
Windows solution. Interested parties can register for Ligos'
online software developers' kit at http://www.ligos.com/about_us/partners/.
For more information on licensing GoMotion or LightSpeed, please
contact [email protected]
or call (415) 437-6137.
Corporate Profiles
Headquartered in San Francisco,
Ligos Technology is the leading worldwide provider of real-time
software-only MPEG encoding and decoding technology. Ligos is an
award-winning developer of multimedia software, dedicated to
delivering the highest-quality MPEG solutions to enable the future
of digital video on the desktop. Ligos' breakthrough MPEG encoding
technology is currently used by industry leaders, including ATI
Technologies Inc., MGI Software Corp., ICTV, Dazzle Multimedia and
Cinax Designs Inc., among others. Ligos is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Integrated Data Systems of Savannah, Ga., developers
of the first software multimedia codec for standard PCs. For more
information on Ligos Technology, MPEG products, or licensing,
access the company Web site at http://www.ligos.com
or call toll-free (888) 464-8765.
The Panasonic DVD-RAM OEM drive is
manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI),
one of the world's leading producers of CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives
and other digital electronic products. The drives are marketed by
the company's principal North American subsidiary, Matsushita
Electric Corp. of America. For more information on the Panasonic
DVD-RAM drive and media, contact Panasonic Industrial Company,
1600 McCandless Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035; (408) 945-5600, FAX
(408) 262-4214, E-mail [email protected].
Or, visit the company's Web site at www.panasonic.com/oemdvd-ram.
In Canada, contact Panasonic Canada, 5770 Ambler Drive,
Mississauga, Ontario L4W 2T3, Canada; (905) 238-2254, FAX (905)
238-2414, E-mail [email protected].
Ligos Technology, Inc. is not a
part or in any way legally affiliated with Panasonic Industrial
Company. Panasonic Industrial Company assumes no responsibility
for the performance of or customer satisfaction with Ligos
products. All company and/or product names are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. Features,
pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change
without notice.
Contact:
Marken Communications
Andy Marken
[email protected]
(408) 986-0100
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