The US VideoLogic Inc unit of the soon-to-be-spun-off Avesco Plc subsidiary has now announced its new 928Movie multimedia system for the US market from its base in Cambridge, Massachusetts: the video graphics accelerator board is going into CompUSA Superstores and other retail outlets and, as reported, combines Windows graphics acceleration, real-time video acceleration, 16-bit audio, and a VESA Media Channel expansion option on a single add-in board; developed with a little help from IBM Corp, it uses the new Powerplay Digital Movie Accelerator, a proprietary chip that enables seamless integration of the video and personal computer graphics subsystems, dramatically reducing the cost of adding video capabilities to personal computers, with full-screen video playback at 30 frames per second and the ability to enlarge postage stamp size video clips to full screen – 1,024 by 768 – without any reduction in frame rate; there is an optional on-board audio system compatible with Microsoft Corp’s Sound System and can run Ad Lib and SoundBlaster applications and games; it’s $350 with 1Mb display memory, $350 with 2Mb, $450 or $550 with sound too.
