Hitachi's Double-Speed DVD-ROM Drive Selected By Cyrix for Media Server Reference Design
BRISBANE, CA
Nov 12, 1997 00:00 AM
Hitachi America, Ltd., today announced that Cyrix Corporation has selected the GD-2000 double-speed DVD-ROM drive for the Cyrix Media Center technology demonstration, an innovative electronic platform that blends the functionality of a consumer appliance and a multimedia/entertainment PC. The developers of the Cyrix Media Center selected the GD-2000 after evaluating the quality and performance of all currently shipping DVD-ROM drives.
The Cyrix Media Center is a reference platform design, which Cyrix is offering to OEM customers. The design incorporates a Cyrix Compute Engine; full home theater capabilities, including DVD Video, TV tuner, picture-in-picture, and 3D surround audio; and advanced computer features such as accelerated 3D graphics and a 56k modem for Internet access. The Media Center is controlled by a "universal remote," supports computer I/O devices, such as a keyboard and mouse, and contains both Universal Serial Bus and 1394 ports.
The Hitachi GD-2000 uses an advanced, dual-laser and lens system to support playback of DVD-ROM discs and all types of CD media, including CD-R/RW discs. Consumers can enjoy the 4.7 Gigabyte (GB) and greater capacity of new digital content recorded on DVD-ROM, while continuing to use the CD-media data and applications they already own.
"As a true consumer appliance, the Media Center must deliver exciting multimedia and entertainment capabilities, be fun and easy-to-use, and be configured with the best available components to assure maximum performance and reliability," said Steve Tobak, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for Cyrix Corporation. "The DVD-ROM drive in particular plays an important part in the end-user experience, since it is the primary drive for playback of multimedia content, and we specified the Hitachi GD-2000 after rigorous evaluation of every available drive."
The advantage of a double-speed DVD-ROM drive is illustrated by the smooth fast forward performance of DVD Video in the Cyrix Media Center, which uses the GD-2000 along with a double-speed capable MPEG decoder. The data transfer rate of 2.76 Mbytes/ second with DVD media also translates into corresponding high performance in transferring files and accessing continuous blocks of data.
"The Cyrix Media Center illustrates how the convergence of PCs and consumer electronics extends the market for advanced technology products," said Werner Glinka, Director of Marketing for the Storage Products Group of Hitachi America, Ltd. "As the first double-speed DVD-ROM drive to ship in production volume to computer OEMs, the GD-2000 is already available in products from the top U.S. PC manufacturers, and we are very excited to be specified in next generation systems that are defining the future for consumer electronics manufacturers."
The Computer Division of Hitachi America, Ltd. sells high-capacity, high-performance hard disk drives, CD-ROM, and DVD drives through its Storage Products Group. Hitachi America, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan, markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and semiconductor products, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout the U.S. Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1996 consolidated sales (ending March 31, 1997) of $68.7 billion. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment.