HOLLYWOOD'S ALARMED: New Zealand Company licenced to sell modified DVD Players

For Immediate Release

10 August 2000

DVD Power Ltd announces revolutionary state of the art development

with the release of the world's first DVD player systems with SDI outputs.

New Zealand, (10 August 2000) --DVD Power Ltd, New Zealand, today announced that it is releasing the first of a series of SDI video products related to the DVD format. The first product to be released is a modified high performance Pioneer 626D DVD player, which is modified with world exclusive SDI output technology, allowing pure digital video direct from the laser head to the display device.

A revolutionary state of the art electronics laser decoding system now enables DVD enthusiasts to watch the astonishingly high-quality pictures that till now have stayed locked inside DVD movie discs.

DVD movies store video as digital code, compressed to the MPEG-2 standard used for digital TV. The data rate varies continually between 3 and 10 megabits per second, depending on whether the system is coding moving detail or static scenery. Flat-panel plasma screens and digital video projectors work best if they are fed a pure digital signal. Most have an input socket called a serial digital interface (SDI). This is an interface used by broadcasters to carry video at data rates up to the 270 megabits per second needed for uncompressed studio-quality pictures. Until now, DVD players only have had low-quality analogue video outputs, which has made it impossible to connect them to the high-resolution display screen's SDI input. However, Function's modification adds a custom chipset that bypasses the analog conversion process and taps directly into the high-quality digital bit stream of MPEG2 video.

The SDI DVD decoding technology was first shown at a DVD conference in Dublin in May 2000. At the public debut DVD players, made by Pioneer and Wharfedale, were connected direct to the SDI inputs of a Hitachi-Fujitsu plasma screen and an NEC digital projector with 1024-by-768-pixel resolution. MGM and Technicolor provided a DVD of the James Bond movie The World is Not Enough. "The picture quality is absolutely incredible," said David Garrett, Function's technical director who invented the modification. "It's pretty amazing. It looks as good as films that are projected."

Bob Auger of Electric Switch, a DVD production company, says: "This is the first time DVD is being seen as it is meant to be seen." "The people from MGM couldn't wait to get their discs in the player," says Garrett. "We were running the equipment 24 hours a day because so many producers wanted to see what their discs looked like."

David Garrett, a former engineer with Britains Ministry of Defence, has developed the SDI technology. Garrett has developed a custom microchip which takes MPEG-2 data from a DVD or digital TV receiver and converts its into a high-quality 10-megabits-per-second video signal. Garrett's company, Function Communications, fits these chips and SDI sockets to off-the-shelf DVD players or digital TV receivers, so that they can connect to the SDI input on a plasma screen.

Garrett admits that his technology has been made possible by loopholes in Hollywood's contracts with DVD makers. "All the manufacturers of DVD players have signed an agreement not to provide a Firewire digital output. But there is no mention of SDI," he says. Firewire feeds high-quality video into computers.        

DVD Power Ltd is now putting together several ultimate home cinema systems including state of the art Digital Projectors and Plasma displays for the well-heeled and quality demanding home cinema enthusiasts.

Customers will be able to buy a modified Pioneer DVD player and a 107-centimetre (42-inch) plasma screen.

The BBC extensively uses the modified SDI capable DVD players as part of their DVD production process.

The technology has also been adopted into hundreds of modified terrestrial and satellite receivers and sold to European broadcasters, including the BBC, who also use them to monitor and record broadcasts.

About Function Communications Ltd

Function Communication Ltd is a full service DVD Production Company with a strong R&D department to develop innovative solutions for the DVD industry. The company was formed in 1999 by a group of dedicated, skilled and innovative individuals. Its' client list includes many international corporate companies who have been early adopters of the DVD and digital media formats for business communication.

Web site: www.function.uk.com

About DVD Power Ltd

DVD Power Ltd is the authorised Asian Pacific Regional Distributor for Function Communications DVD Power Ltd is a New Zealand based company that offers a full range of services and products based on the interactive DVD format. It currently offers full service DVD production services through its Partners Australian and US based production facilities. DVD Power Ltd will continue to announce a range of products and production services for the entertainment, educational, corporate, marketing, information technology, direct sales, training and multi-language markets.

Contact Details:

Chris Collins

DVD Power Limited,

PO Box 98823, S.A.M.C,

Auckland,

New Zealand

Tel:+64(9)2673223                        
Fax: +64-9-2673404                     Mobile (025)610-2784

Email: inquiries@dvdpower.co.nz         web site: www.dvdpower.com (coming soon)