Press Release

Plug & Play - Volume 8 - Issue Number 18 - October 1999

Official newsletter of the Interactive Digital Media Association and the DVD
Association.
 
Circulation over 1,500 Members & Registered Readers

DVDA membership has reached 708 and is rising.

Contents: Summit to be a DVD title, Summit agenda, New sponsors, The fight 
for the DVD-Video rental markets, First Mid-Atlantic Chapter meets in
October.

IMPORTANT NOTICE.

The Hotel for the Summit is the Harvey Hotel, not the Harvey Suites

There is some confusion (Our fault) with regard to the Summit conference 
hotel. The conference is at the Harvey Hotel, DFW Airport, Dallas - not the 
Harvey Suites Hotel. Please make sure you are registered at the correct one.
We need the room count to get the special rates. Any doubts, call Dora at 
(888) 696 7891 or from outside North America at (216) 692 6410. E-mail Dora 
at [email protected].
If your company rules say you must book direct the number is, (972) 929 0733
ask for
IDMA-DVDA special rates. The hotel has a shuttle from the airport.

From the Editor

The 1999 IDMA-DVDA Summit is shaping up to be the best one yet.
Here is the provisional agenda to help you decide if you should attend:
Friday October 22.          
12.00       Registration Open. Please register when you arrive. 
You will need a badge to get in to the sessions and an invitation for the 
free Gala Awards Dinner.

12.00 - 8.00    Mini-Expo is open between sessions. It's not an exhibition, 
it's a personal demonstration, so make sure you don't miss this opportunity 
to see and try the latest in DVD and competing technologies.

 1.00 - 5.00    State of the industry. An update on all the platforms the 
IDMA supports. Find out what is happening to the platforms you work with. 
Where is DVD going in the consumer markets? Report from the DVD Group.

 5.00 - 6.00    Annual meeting of the DVDA-IDMA.

 6.00 - 8.00    Welcome reception in the Mini-Expo room.
Saturday October 23 
        
 8.00 - 8.45    Breakfast in the Mini-Expo room.

 8.40 - 8.45    Please be in your seats - bring the coffee with you. 

 8.45 - 9.00    Introduction to the DVD day.

 9.00 - 10.30   DVD Session part 1: DVD and the Web Connection.

10.30 - 10.45   Coffee break

10.45 - 12.15   DVD Session part 2: Industrial DVD, where it's working,
where it's not.

12.15 - 1.30    Lunch   
        
 1.45 - 3.15    DVD Session part 3: The new DVD standards and products, 
including Nuon, DVD-Audio, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW

  3.15 - 3.30   Break

  3.30 -    5.00    DVD Session part 4: Reports from the technical working 
parties.

  5.00 - 5.30   Awards demo. See the entries for most unusual use of 
Television Based Multimedia and Best New Player Peripheral or Software.

  5.00 - 6.00   Mini-Expo

  7.00 - 9.00   Ninth annual Gala Awards Dinner. Speakers include John
Barker editor of Inside Multimedia. Awards will be presented in nine different 
categories. 

Sunday October 24

  8.00 - 8.30   Breakfast in Mini-Expo room.

  8.00 - 12.00  Mini-Expo open. 

  8.30 - 10.00  The future of our industry. Some of the people who will 
decide the industry's future share their vision of the future with
attendees. 
        
10.00 - 12.00   Town Meeting - Everyone speaks. Save your questions. 
Ask the experts, someone in the room will know. 
This is your chance to show everyone your new idea, brag about your latest 
success, or just ask questions.

12.00       Close.
To register by phone call Paul Holmes at (440) 349 9661. Or go to
www.dvda.org

The Summit on DVD

All these presentations and the awards ceremony will not only be videotaped 
and made into a VideoCD, but thanks to Samantha Cheng and Television 
Production Services it will also be authored as a DVD title.

New Advisory Council members

We are proud to inform you that the following companies have joined the 
Advisory Council of the DVD Association. Pioneer New Media, Sonic Solutions 
and Optical Disc. 
They join Panasonic, Philips, VM Labs, Astarte, McGill Multimedia, RISE 
Int'l., and honorary members Dana Parker, John Barker and Jim Taylor. 
These individuals and companies will help steer the course of the
association 
as we continue to grow and develop. 

Record entry for Ninth annual awards

Entries for most categories are now in and judging begins on Wednesday 
October 6. This year it will be a very complicated operation. Comparing 
entries, on completely different platforms, in each category, is not easy.
In Kiosks, for instance, we have entries that play on DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, 
CD-ROM, CD-i, Video CD, M2X, Telescan and CMI's Advantage 2000.
Home entertainment entries vary from 'I'm Your Man', where you choose which 
of three characters you follow through the one film, to the complete set of 
'Nightmare' films, where you follow a single character - the notorious 
Freddie - through your choice from the seven films in the series.

Summit tables and equipment

If you need a television or a DVD player for your table in the Summit 
Mini-Expo, time is running out. We have to tell the sponsor companies who
are loaning us the equipment what we need, otherwise it just won't be there. 
Tables are still available, as are a few sponsorship opportunities.

Summit Binders

If you are a member and would like any information about your products or 
services included in the 1999 Summit binder, or if you have speaker's notes,
please send to: 
Rise Int'l., Inc., attention Douglas Towers, 2501 Parkway Drive, Suite 206, 
Ft. Worth TX 76102, USA. Contact: [email protected] (817) 336 0404, fax. (817) 336
1430.  You should send 150 copies. If your company has any items they wish to give 
to the attendees, please send them to the same address. 

Summit Hotel Shipping Address

When sending boxes to the Summit, address them to: Shipping and Receiving, 
Harvey Hotel, 4545 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, Texas 75036. Mark them
for Interactive Digital Media Association meeting, Friday Oct. 22. Phone 
(972) 929 0733

First meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the DVDA 

7:00pm, Wednesday October 13, 1999
At Henninger Media Services, 2601-A Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA. (703) 243 3444.
Speaker: Ralph LaBarge, Managing Partner, Alpha DVD, LLC. Board Member, DVD 
Association (DVDA)
For more detailed information contact: Samantha Cheng, Vice President, 
Television Production Services, Inc. (TPS), Acting Chairperson, DVDA 
Mid-Atlantic Chapter, 
(202) 244 2005, fax (202) 244 1474, e-mail: [email protected]


Logos now available in high resolution

Quite a few of you took advantage of our offer of a free DVDA logo for your 
Website or notepaper. We now have a high resolution version for
publications. If you want to be seen as supporting the DVD Association, send for one now. 
If you are a member it's free.  Don't forget the 'POP show' 

If you are involved with the Point of Purchase industry you will want to 
visit the POP show in Chicago, November 17-18. Call (847) 675 7400 for 
details. 

Students and DVD

We are getting more inquiries from students all around the world who are 
researching DVD. If any of our readers would like to volunteer to be a 
resource for helping students by answering questions on DVD, please contact.

DVD rentals, the Store versus the 'Net

In the USA, Blockbuster is dramatically increasing the number of stores
where one can rent DVDs and is adding an additional 1,000 stores overseas.
At least 200 titles will be offered initially, and additional titles will be
added every month, including new releases and catalog titles. 
Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, a leading media research and 
consulting firm, explained that the rental of DVD has far surpassed original
projections. 
NetFlix has just launched NetFlix Marquee, its new rental program. By 
committing to pay for four rentals each month, you can keep them as long as 
you wish. As usual with NetFlix, it is a well thought out program which in 
fact ties you to renting four movies a month and ensures you rent them from 
NetFlix. If you watch a lot of movies and want to see the latest and best 
without advertisements, it's a great deal.
Which ever way one looks at it, it means DVD movies are catching on fast, 
which will help us all in the long run.

Technical information

Pioneer New Media Technologies has introduced its first 10x DVD-ROM drive. 
The DVD-114/104S offers speeds that are 10 times (max.) faster than first 
generation DVD-ROM technology. The 10x DVD-ROM drive is compatible with 
single and dual layer DVD, DVD-R, CD-ROM and CD-R media, preserving 
compatibility with conventional CD formats. Random seek times are less than 
90 msec for DVD-ROM (70 msec for CD-ROM) and access times less than 100 msec
(80 msec for CD-ROM). The estimated street price is $125
Contact: Pioneer http://www.pioneerusa.com 

From Europe

European Video Perspective Conference 1999

Venue: Arles, France. 1-3 December 1999
Topics:
DVD market update and future outlook; Disc best sellers - a look at DVD
title performance in European markets; DVD in the market - a view from both the 
majors and the independents; Crossing boundaries - the future black box; Making it 
happen - trends in DVD authoring, mastering and replication; The frontline -
DVD in the retail and rental channels; Taking the video business on-line; 
Renting into the millennium - the future of the rental business.
Contact: Ben Keen.  E-mail: [email protected] / www.screendigest.com

Ravisent Pairs With Sony For DVD Upgrade Solution

Ravisent Technologies and Sony Europe have introduced a new upgrade solution
to deliver DVD playback on IBM-compatible PC platforms. Ravisent's Software 
CineMaster 98, which enables digital video and audio stream management, will
accompany Sony's 6x DDU220E-SRP DVD drive 
Bundled with the DVD-ROM drive is an ATI 128 graphics card, and with the 
ability to support five languages this European retail package is an 
easy-to-use, cost-effective solution for computer users who want to empower 
their PC with DVD playback ability. 
Contact: Sony http://www.sony-cp.com

'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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