OEM customers Acer America Corp, ABL Canada and NEC Corp are to use AT&T Co’s AVP Video Codec Chip Set to deliver standardised videoconferencing capability to the desktop. They join AT&T, PictureTel Corp and Zydacron Inc, all of which have already signed up to the technology. The AVP is based on the international standard for videoconferencing, known as Px64, or H.320, says AT&T. Px64 enables systems to exchange information about each other – in much the same way that different facsimile machines adapt to each other – so that they can determine how best to exchange audio, video and user data streams. AT&T first used the chip set in its Visual Solutions line, released last April. The three-chip AVP set comprises a real-time video encoder and decoder, and a system controller. According to AT&T, the Controller automatically allocates bandwidth, creates natural lip synchronisation, and combines digital channels to form a single bit stream for optimum use of available bandwidth. Systems based on the AVP chip set are currently priced at $5,000 upwards, but AT&T expects end-user prices to drop to around $1,000 over the next few years.
