Media Vision Inc has launched a new software technology which it says will enable electronic publishers and software developers to open up motion video immediately to all personal computer users, regardless of what type of computer they own. Called Motive, short for Motion Video Engine, the technology is being shown this week at the multimedia show in San Francisco, where the same full motion video software is being run on an Apple Macintosh, a Silicon Graphics Indigo, a Sun Microsystems Sparcstation, and an MS-DOS personal computer. Motive is compatible with Quicktime, Audio Video Interactive and Unix. Media Vision is expected also to announce hardware video products that use Motive and offer additional function in affordable pieces. The new video technology comprises a compression algorithm, enabling the conversion of conventional analogue video to digital video using an ordinary personal computer or workstation; and a capture/ edit/ playback/ decompression engine, which enables manipulation and playback of the digital video. Summing up the benefits of its new offering, the company highlighted its flexible resolution and frame rate, and the ability to play back full motion colour video. On a typical 80386 personal computer, it achieves a frame rate of 15 frames per second, 320 pixel by 240 pixel window, with 8 bits per pixel of colour, 160 pixel by 120 pixel window at either 8 or 16 bits per pixel of colour. Technology licences (in either object or source-code form) are available now from Media Vision from around $10,000 to $100,000 depending on the type of license. Fremont-based Media Vision considers its mission to popularise multimedia by offering multimedia packages at affordable prices. Its products range from systems and printed circuit boards to chips based on emerging multimedia standards for mainstream personal computer systems.
