US digital media compression company C-Cube Microsystems has been demonstrating its CL550 chip, which it is heralding as the first single-chip, high performance Moving Pictures Experts Group, or MPEG, video decoder-processor, capable of decompressing digital video in real-time. Says the company, MPEG technology enables computers, communication and consumer electronics products to use high-quality digital video and audio and is expected to play a critical role in the multimedia movement. The C-Cube MPEG processor also includes a high-performance, high-resolution extended mode. Jointly defined by Japanese Victor Co Ltd of Japan and the San Jose, California chipmaker (CI No 1,638), the JVC Extended mode will serve as the basis of JVC’s compression architecture for its next generation of multimedia products. When operating in the JVC Extended mode, the C-Cube processor can decompress video data streams at up to four times the pixel resolution specified by the base-level MPEG mode – thereby producing broadcast-quality digital video. And four processors together are claimed to yield high-definition television quality video. MEPG compression compresses video in ratios of up to 50 to one. C-Cube reckons that the technology will be popular for CD-ROM multimedia titles for training, sales, entertainment and education; digital cable television; direct satellite video broadcast; and interactive consumer video games. Development vehicles for C-Cube’s MPEG-compatible decoder are to be available later this year, and end-user products that incorporate C-Cube’s MPEG technology are expected to be out next year.
