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Plug & Play      Volume 8     Issue Number 16
Circulation over 1,457 Members & Registered Readers. 
Official newsletter of the Interactive Digital Media Association and the DVD 
Association 

Contents. The 1999 Awards and the Summit.  Tech stuff.

DVDA membership has reached 663 and is rising.


>From the Editor.

Make no mistake we are , 100% behind DVD. We know it will succeed.  But so 
far this years awards entries have proved one thing, so far it has not yet 
succeeded in the Sales, Marketing, Kiosks and Training world where most of 
our members work. After all if you worked in CD-I and VideoCD, digital video 
on a disc is nothing new.  DVD Video can do what VideoCD could do and do it 
better, but DVD Video as yet can't do many of the things that CD-I has been 
doing for ten years.
When will this change, when the new Interactive DVD Video players arrive, 
hopefully at this years summit.  A Nuon enhanced DVD Video player can and 
will do what CD-I does and do it better.  VMLabs have a high level authoring 
tool available, so you don't even have to be a C+ programmer to make it work.
There is at least one more DVD-Interactive player about to be launched and 
more on the way.  That is why we have set up a working group to create best 
practices for Interactive DVD.  That is another reason you should support the 
DVDA.

Technical Director for the DVDA

Jim Taylor has accepted the position of Technical Director of the DVDA.  Jim 
will act as a liaison with the heads of each of the working groups and speak 
on behalf of the DVDA on technical matters.

New Chapters.

There is now an Australian chapter.  Jeff Sunderland of DVD Technologies, 
e-mail [email protected],  has offered to start work on a DVDA chapter for 
down under.
Max Nguyen of DVD Master is starting a chapter in Orange County, CA. You can 
contact Max at [email protected] Phone (714) 962-4098 Fax (714) 962-4198
If you have a suggestion regarding a local chapter in your area, or your 
country, please call.

The ninth annual awards for excellence in interactive digital media.

It really is time to enter.  Yes, the awards entries close on Sept 15. Enter 
now!
These awards are open to all Plug & Play, interactive disc based technologies 
and provide a unique opportunity to compare the best that can be done by 
developers using many different platforms.  As usual we expect a lot of 
entries on CD-I, VideoCD, M2 and of course we expect that this year we shall 
see many entries on DVD Video and DVD-ROM.  The Gold, Silver and Bronze 
trophies will be presented at the annual summit conference. Dallas 22-24 Oct.
The entry forms are available on the web at www.dvda.org, by e-mail at 
[email protected], or to obtain a fax copy, call (440) 349 9661.
If you know of any interactive digital titles that should be considered, call 
me.

The IDMA-DVDA Summit Dallas 22-24 Oct.

The 1999 Summit is shaping up to be another exciting event this year. Once 
again it will be the place were the 'Experts come, to become the experts." 
We will see the first appearance of some new Interactive DVD players, have a 
whole day of DVD updates, organized by three of the top experts in the field 
of DVD.  But don't forget if you are still creating CD-I, VCD, SVCD or M2 
titles this is the place to be as well.  All Friday afternoon is devoted just 
to these platforms.  So if you want to know what's happening to the platform 
you are currently developing on, then it is important to be there. 
Saturday evening, delegates attend the Gala awards dinner, sponsored by 
Panasonic and free to all those registered.
Sunday morning, specially invited experts will give us a glimpse into the 
future, beyond 2000.  Then the session where everyone speaks, asks questions 
and becomes part of the Summit, the Town Meeting.
During the whole three days, at the mini-expo you will be able to talk to the 
experts, try the latest authoring tools and get hands on experience with the 
new equipment.  That's how you become an expert.
Registration forms are on the web site at www.dvda.org,available by e-mail at 
[email protected], or to obtain a fax copy, call (440) 349 9661.
If you know of any interesting speakers, with something new and exciting to 
say, please contact me.

$125 early bird savings.

September 15 is the last day for the $125 early bird savings, so if you have 
not already done so please register and make your reservation before then.

Book your hotel by e-mail at '[email protected].' for the special rates

Join the DVDA or the IDMA for $100 and save another $100 off the summit 
conference.
That means you get the whole thing, conference, mini-expo, gala dinner and 
the other meals for $200.  We can only do this because of our sponsors who 
cover the costs of the food, equipment etc. There are still some 
opportunities for your company to sponsor parts of the summit and the awards 
categories.  Send me an e-mail for a list of remaining sponsorship 
opportunities. [email protected].  Membership forms are on the web site.

Mini-Expo at the Summit.

If your company is a member of the IDMA-DVDA then you can demonstrate your 
products in our mini-expo.  No booths, are allowed, but for $100 (the cost 
from the hotel) we will provide, a draped table with electricity and where 
possible the necessary equipment.  If you are an equipment manufacturer and 
would like to provide your equipment for the other members to use during the 
mini-expo, contact us.
We have worked hard to make this summit conference an exciting weekend that 
will benefit everyone attending, don't get left out, it's your future.
General news.

Advance notice DVD Summit III
Burlington Hotel, Dublin, 15-18 April 2000  Web site: www.dvdsummit.com
This is the third European DVD conference on strategic issues, alliances and
publishing opportunities. Last year's conference was so successful that
Dublin is again the chosen venue. 
Ireland, the gateway to Europe, hosts two days of pre-conference workshops
on 15-18 April, followed by DVD Summit for industry leaders on 17-18 April.
The event culminates in the Gala Evening and European DVD Awards, held in
Dublin Castle on 18 April. A 4-day exhibition accompanies this major
conference. For speaker and sponsorship opportunities email John Barker at
[email protected]
We are supporting the conference as the DVDA's European event for year 2000.

VM Labs Licenses Spyglass Device Mosaic for NUON Interactive DVD

Think of your favorite DVD movie on your television, in your family room. Now 
imagine with the click of a button on your DVD remote, being transferred to 
the Movie's own web site. Creating interactive content has become this easy 
with VM Labs' next-generation NUON enhanced DVD technology. 

NUON technology transforms DVD Video players into Interactive DVD players 
for, enhanced DVD movies, games, and many other applications such as Sales, 
Marketing, Kiosks and Training. With its embedded high-speed media processor, 
associated firmware and operating system, NUON provides a powerful platform 
to bring dynamic interactive features to your living room, the training room, 
or you companies Point of Sale Kiosk in the Mall. 
VM Labs has now added an easy-to-use browser to their package, a Spyglass 
Device Mosaic to allow Interactive DVD users to view content written in HTML. 
 Now developers can create truly interactive DVD titles and Web-sites can 
deliver MPEG2 Video right into your family room, using a Web connected DVD 
title.
Toshiba has already agreed to include NUON in future digital consumer 
products, and VM Labs predicts that during the year 2000, NUON will become a 
de-facto standard in DVD players worldwide.

Daikin Authors Epic Film 

C-Cube Microsystems, Daikin U.S. and Digital Ventures have announced that the 
James Cameron film, Titanic, scheduled for DVD release on August 31st, was 
produced using their DVD video encoding and authoring technology at Sunset 
Post, a leading Hollywood post production facility. 

 "Titanic has elements that pose unique challenges for anyone in DVD 
production, pushing the envelope of digital video compression and testing the 
industry's ability to apply high technology to a creative world," said 
Richard Mizer, president and CEO of Digital Ventures Diversified. 
 "The film's wide ocean expanses and heavily detailed night shots are two of 
the most difficult elements to digitize - water and detailed dark imagery," 
added Mizer. "Because of this complexity and the movie's great length, the 
Titanic video stream was significantly larger than those of other films and 
nearly impossible to digitize onto a single disc without visible artifacts. 
By providing flexible control of the encoding process to address Titanic's 
especially challenging changes in resolution, bandwidth and color depth we 
have earned this prestigious opportunity to encode this epic film." 

"C-Cube's MPEG-2 compression algorithms have been used worldwide to encode 
hundreds of movies," said Didier Le Gall, chief technical officer for C-Cube, 
and patent holder of several MPEG compression schemes.  "Our engineers are 
pleased that our research and development in the area of MPEG compression is 
validated by successfully encoding Titanic."

Due to the sheer length of the film, Titanic was stored on two layers of a 
single DVD disc. Two separate versions of the dual-layer DVD disc were made, 
one for full screen and the other in the original theatrical aspect ratio.  

>From Bob Rager,  Remember 'Memory Works'?

Whether interested in improving your memory skills, or just curious about the 
latest science has to offer on how your brain functions, MemoryZine, a new 
website is now open to older adults of all ages.   Located at 
www.MemoryZine.com, the site was conceived to provide news about human memory 
performance, as well as offer innovative aids that can enhance your ability 
to learn and remember.  A center of memory excellence, PMI's mission is to 
help people improve everyday memory skills with new programs developed from 
NIH funded research. The site has now been selected by the Novartis 
Foundation for mini-site inclusion on their www.HealthandAge.com web site for 
physicians and patients. 
Editors comment. Bob Rager is a well known CD-I producer.

Technical section.

10x DVD-ROM drive 

Digital Video Systems, Inc. have announced that its 10X DVD-ROM Drives will 
be available in sample quantities in late November, with delivery starting in 
December 1999.

The new drive is compatible with DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, and virtually all 
CD formats including CD-ROM, CD-Audio, CD-R, CD-RW, Video CD, Multi-session 
Photo CD, or Photo CD.

For more information on DVS' products, email to [email protected], call Bob 
Werbicki 1-650-564-9699 or visit: www.dvsystems.com.


DVD-RAM. Today and tomorrow

REALmagic Digital Video Recorder (DVR) is being featured at DVD-RAM...Today 
and Tomorrow, a briefing and industry update sponsored by Hitachi, Panasonic, 
and Toshiba. During the event, Sigma's DVR will play a key role in showing 
the versatility and functionality of DVD-RAM for low-cost, real-time DVD 
video production, editing, storage, and playback. 

Corporate publishing is moving to video as its favored medium. Educators and 
corporate in-house production staff want to put video on their web sites or 
distribute it to other people in their organization. But corporate marketing 
and training departments are cost-sensitive and need equipment that is easy 
to use. 

Paying $1,000 for a digital camera is typical; the camera creates images for 
use in data sheets and other marketing collateral. Now, Sigma's REALmagic DVR 
enables professionals to capture images, edit MPEG video, and publish DVD 
titles for less than $1,000. 

The demand for the functionality included in REALmagic DVR is growing at a 
rapid pace, not only in businesses and educational organizations, but also 
with home consumers. International Data Corporation predicts that as many as 
one million households will own a digital video recorder by 2000 -- an 
aggressive forecast for a products that is only in its second year of 
existence. 

"Our focus in developing REALmagic DVR has been on maximizing functionality 
and optimizing value in an easy-to-use package," said William K. Wong, 
Sigma's vice president of marketing. "REALmagic DVR is as easy to install and 
use as our hallmark Hollywood Plus DVD decoder card. "It can be used on any 
Pentium-class PC, including older 200 MHz systems frequently found in schools 
and businesses. Getting DVD encoding, editing, authoring, and DVD playback 
for less than $1,000 is quite a bargain." REALmagic DVR supports any DVD-RAM 
or DVD-ROM drive (IDE or SCSI). 

REALmagic DVR will be available during the third quarter of this year and 
will be sold through OEMs and system integrators. A number of end-user 
upgrade kit producers are planning to release retail kits incorporating 
REALmagic DVR in time for the holidays. The kits will enable customers to 
upgrade their Windows 98/NT PCs to video and DVD production systems. 

CONTACT: Sigma Designs http://www.sigmadesigns.com


Visible Light Announces Onstage� DVD

Visible Light have announced their new DVD product line. OnStage DVD Xtra and 
OnStage DVD Active X are scheduled for release in the 4th Quarter of 1999.

OnStage DVD playback technology is designed to integrate interactivity and 
control of DVD content into a wide variety of authoring languages, including 
Macromedia Director�. The OnStage DVD Xtra and OnStage Active X are 
Windows�-based tools for use in a hard drive presentation, such as on a 
notebook or kiosk, or to create enhanced hybrid DVD titles for wide 
distribution. 

 "Authors are free to focus more on new award-winning creative designs and 
use DVD technology to its fullest, incorporating interactive menus, multiple 
audio (language) tracks, video angles, subpictures and speed control. It 
opens the door to a new era of interactivity and sensual experience for the 
viewer." says Steve Perlman, President of Visible Light.

For over two years, Visible Light's OnStage product line has served over 500 
customers worldwide, with flawless playback in hard-drive presentations and 
on CD-ROM. Visible Light's investment into the OnStage playback technology 
will assure the stability and success of OnStage DVD.

Additional information about OnStage DVD can be found at Visible Light's web 
site: 
www.visiblelight.com/onstage


"Plug and Play" is published by the Interactive Digital Media Association as 
a free service to our members and readers. 

The Editor is Paul Holmes, he can be reached at [email protected] (440) 
349-9661

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