IRVINE, Calif., September 14, 1998-The Disk Products Division (DPD) of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) today announced that it will begin shipping its new DVD kit especially designed for value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators (SIs). This all-in-one DVD solution delivers all the components necessary for the integrator channel to provide easy, complete upgrades to DVD-ROM while allowing their customers to enjoy all the features of DVD-ROM: remarkably smooth, high-quality MPEG-2 digital video playback, realistic Dolby® Digital Surround Sound and massive quantities of data.
"The new DVD kit provides our VAR and SI partners with the exact solution their customers have been demanding - one that can be installed quickly and easily while taking maximum advantage of all the features of DVD," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president, marketing, TAEC DPD. "As DVD grows in popularity, more and more VARs and SIs will be confronted with requests for such a solution. Now they can get it from Toshiba."
Leading Performance Drive Provides Backbone of Solution
The new kit includes the 4.8X SD-M1202, Toshiba's leading-edge DVD-ROM drive. The SD-M1202 offers transfer rates twice as fast as previous generations with a high-performance 4.8X speed playback for DVD-ROM (6,535 KB/sec.) media, which is equivalent to a 43.5X transfer for CD-ROM.
DVD Enhanced with Sigma Designs® REALmagic™ Hollywood Plus Playback Card
Sigma Designs' REALmagic Hollywood Plus DVD/MPEG-2 playback card enhances the DVD experience, giving VARs and SIs the solution their customers demand. A driving force in MPEG technology, Sigma was chosen to provide the playback solution due to the REALmagic board's use of analog overlay technology, ease-of-installation and overall performance. The dedicated REALmagic board gives the user an exciting DVD experience with full-motion HDTV resolution video and realistic Dolby Digital Surround Sound audio.
Customers using Toshiba's DVD kit will be thrilled with the full-motion video available with any VGA card, thanks to Sigma's cutting-edge analog overlay technology. Other solutions that do not include analog overlay cannot deliver full-screen video, are incompatible with many VGA cards and motherboards, or may not work with all resolutions and bit depths. REALmagic Hollywood Plus enables the clearest video possible at resolutions from 640 x 480dpi to 1600 x 1200dpi - and it always displays 24-bit video, even when working with a VGA card in 256 color mode.
REALmagic can handle all of the complex video and audio streams without placing any burden on the computer's CPU due to its robust system silicon. This results in the PC running at maximum performance at all times.
"Toshiba's selection of the REALmagic board is an endorsement of Sigma's technology expertise and market presence," said William Wong, vice president of marketing for Sigma Designs. "Being included in Toshiba's DVD-ROM kit strengthens our efforts to reach the installed base of 100 million Pentium PCs that can be upgraded with DVD capability."
Brzeski agreed, saying "Sigma Designs' REALmagic Hollywood Plus DVD board is the perfect complement to Toshiba's DVD-ROM drive. Their cutting-edge solution supports Toshiba's goal to support its VAR and SI customers with a high-performance, easy-to-integrate DVD solution."
Navigational Software Enables Maximization of DVD Features
Navigational Software Enables Maximization of DVD Features
Full-motion Video Screen Saver
VARs and SIs can help their customers enjoy the benefits of DVD in no time with Toshiba's DVD kit. The combination of the REALmagic board and Toshiba's SD-M1202 drive delivers a simple solution for upgrading to DVD. After installing the drive and placing the playback card into the PCI bus, the REALmagic set-up software does the rest. The new kit also comes standard with all necessary cables, software and documentation, providing an easy, quick installation.
Pricing and Availability
The new Toshiba DVD kit is shipping now to distributors, VARs and systems integrators at a suggested list price of $299.
About Toshiba
TAEC brings to market the industry's most comprehensive offering of components for the manufacturing of desktop and portable computers. As the North American manufacturing, sales and marketing arm of one of the world's largest suppliers of semiconductors, integrated circuits, storage devices and electronic components, TAEC's product offerings account for more than 30 percent of the total possible components used in desktop and portable computers. This broad product offering positions TAEC as the ideal business partner for system manufactures who want to consolidate suppliers without sacrificing quality and performance. TAEC's products include industry-leading semiconductors, integrated circuits, hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM drives, color picture tubes, display monitor tubes, liquid crystal displays, medical tubes, rechargeable batteries, microwave components, laser diodes and optical transmission devices.
TAEC DPD is a technology and market leader with a well established reputation for delivering high performance, highly reliable 2.5-inch hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, DVD-ROM drives and DVD-RAM drives. For additional product information, contact Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., Disk Products Division, 35 Hammond, Irvine, CA 92618; telephone (714) 457-0777, or on the World Wide Web at: http://www.toshiba.com/taissdd/.
