Intel Corp is working with the Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System Inc’s Cable News Network to exploit its Indeo technology to bring cable television feeds to networks of personal computers, the Wall Street Journal reported, without the need for any dedicated hardware. Called LAN TV, the system needs an 80486-based personal computer, a sound board, an Ethernet interface and the video compression decompression software. It puts the television feed up in a window on the user’s screen, and is described as relatively small and jerky. The feed, from a cable, a satellite dish or a video cassette recorder, is converted by a gateway computer that cuts the US 30 frames per second standard to 15 frames a second, at which level the feed is claimed to use only 3% of the network’s capacity. The gateway computer is also designed to log usage – who is watching what, how much the system is used. The system is to be tried out by several businesses next month, and if the results are good, the pair may start selling software and service later this year.
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