Subject: MPEG-FAQ: multimedia compression [7/8]
Date: 9 Jun 1995 11:03:57 GMT
Summary: This is the summary about the ISO video and audioformats MPEG 1, 2 and 4
answers:9854 comp.answers:12387 news.answers:45907

Version: v 4.0 95/06/07
Posting-Frequency: bimonthly
BEGIN -------------------- CUT HERE --------------------- 7/8

This widget was implemented by making minimal  changes  to
the mpeg2.0 source code. Because of this, there are a num-
ber of global variables, functions and constants  that  do
not follow normal widget conventions.  Many of the mpeg2.0
options are not supported yet. Shared memory may not  work
-  it  has  not been tested.  On stepping through a movie,
the number of frames shown per step is indeterminate.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: SUBSECTION - VMS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: vms MPEG

The VMS MPEG viewer is built by acquiring the regular Unix-specific mpeg
source, then getting the VMS specific code.  Using this mesh of code, you
build your own VMS-compatible MPEG player.

First, get the regular UNIX Mpeg viewer per the instructions in part "c"
above.  Then get the following:

URL=ftp://mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/vms/
    [128.32.149.157]

Thanks to Terry Maton for this information.  Here is some text from him
which may be of help to VMS users:

First go to mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu in /pub/multimedia/mpeg and get the main
mpeg file mpeg_play.2.00.tar.Z, then cd to vms and get the file 
MPEG_PLAY-20-DECW.TAR_Z.  Now you have to decompress and tar the main file
first and then the vms file.  This means that the latest version of some
of the .c files are the correct ones for vms.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: SUBSECTION - MacIntosh

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Sparcle

From: maynard@elwing.otago.ac.nz (Maynard James Handley)
Subject: Sparkle 2.1.2 MPEG player for Macs
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 10:24:46 GMT

Sparkle 2.12 A mac-look-and-feel MPEG and QT player and converter.

This should replace Sparkle 2.1 in the info-mac archives.
This version makes the following changes to Sparkle 2.1
* A few minor bugs were fixed.
* One major bug was fixed, which required extensive reworking of Sparkle 
  internals. This is why I haven't been able to get this version out 
  sooner.
* Somewhat better (though not yet great) support for QT movies with only 
  sound and no video.
* In reponse to many mail message from people who didn't understand the 
  new features in 2.1, I've added a lot more documentation, in the 
  ReadMe 2nd file, and I've added balloon help.

You will get slightly better results with this version if you throw away 
your old Sparkle preferences file (in the Preferences folder in the 
System folder) before running Sparkle 2.12. 
This isn't essential but will improve performance a little.

This version 
* is not PPC native
* does not support sound
* does not support apple events
* does not support online help
These are all high priorities, pretty much in that order.

As always, if you find any bug or anomaly in this code please tell me. 
The sooner you tell me, the sooner I'll fix it.
As always there remain a few rough edges to this program, though I hope 
most of them won't be too distressing to users. Like previous rough 
edges, they'll be done away with in time.

%%%
!!! If you write to me PLEASE give me a decent address I can reply to.
!!!.About 10% of the e-mail I receive has a bogus return address---I try 
!!!.to reply to you and a few hours or days later I get a message from the 
!!!.mail system that my mail could not be delivered.
!!!.This is very frustrating to me and a waste of your and my time. 
!!!.I have NEVER just ignored mail sent to me about Sparkle. If I don't 
!!!.reply to you, it's because you sent me mail with a garbage return address.
!!!.Check out your mail system and write to me again when it works properly.
%%%

WHAT IS IT?
Sparkle plays MPEGs, PICTs and QT movies and converts between them. It is
multifinder friendly and, with enough memory, will open multiple 
documents at once.
It is free. 

REQUIRES: 
System 7 or greater.
QuickTime 1.6 or greater.
An 020 based mac or greater.
This version requires the Thread Manager.

You can ftp Sparkle from

URL=ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/info-mac/grf/util/

(or a mirror like mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu)
You can ftp the Thread Manager from

URL=ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/mac/sys.soft/extensions/Thread_manager_201.hqx

Maynard Handley
maynard@elwing.otago.ac.nz 
July 28 1994

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Qt2MPEG

From: Rainer Menes <menes@statistik.tu-muenchen.de>
Date: .Wed, 6 Oct 1993 13:20:08 +0100

Dear qt2mpeg users,

I like to announce a new version of my qt2mpeg util. This version is a 
beta  version but should be very stable I hope.

The best news about the new version is that it supports Quicktime to MPEG
conversation of any length. The last version, as some of you have 
reported, had a very seriuos bug which crash your mac very badly. Now 
this shouldn't happend any more.

I putted the stuff on my ftp site suniams1.statistik.tu-muenchen.de in the
dir incoming/qt2mpeg.

What will you need? It depends if you are a firsttime user or you are 
using the older version right now.

1. Firsttime user should get qt2mpeg1.1b.sit.bin. This includes all you 
   need to do the qt to MPEG conversation.
   
2. To update your older version get only qt2mpeg_update.sit.bin. This 
   will save bandwidth on internet (Thank you),and replace the old files 
   with the new once.
   
Some fun stuff is also in this dir. To test my new qt2mpeg I made a mpeg 
movie with a realtime length of 1 min. The size is 192x144 with 25 fps.
The movie was produced from some videos I made 1992 in Italy while 
skiing there. The cut was done with Adobe Premiere 3.0 and than converted
with qt2mpeg 1.1b to a mpeg movie. The first scenes show myself and the 
last two show me and Claudia a good friend of mine (Thanks Claudia). Hope 
you find this movie fun to watch. (I will try a second one next year in 
382x288 with 25fps) The file is called SkiRainer.mpg and is about 1.2 
MByte in size. The compression rate is 1:102 and the quality is still 
very good I think.

This is beta version qt2mpeg 1.1!

If you find my utils usefull please send me nice postcard!!!!! You will 
find address below at the end of this readme file.

This is my second beta version of Quicktime to MPEG, so you will find bugs.

Changes from the version 0.1

- The qt2yuv converter now runs even when used on non truecolor screens.
  Sorry for this former bug. I allway run my Quadra in truecolor and never
  tested it in an other mode.
- The MPEG encoder now is version 1.2 and not 1.0 alpha. (mpeg)
- The MacMiNT version is updaten to the lastest status. The background
  feature now work great.
- The old version only runs on a 68040 with FPU so all users without a
  full blow Quadra where not able to run the software. Now you can run
  this software on an 68030 with 68882. Hopefully with softfpu the
  Centris machines with a 68LC040 will be able to run this converter too. 
  Please let me know if not.
- added a new MPEG converter to the software. After alot of pproblems
  I got the mpeg encoder from Berkeley running (mpeg_encode).
- added a new program called qt2yuvBerkeley. This will generate the 
  different yuv files and an other shell script to make conversation
  as easy as possible.

Changes from the version 0.5b

- removed the stanford encoder from the distribution. Only takes space
  and isn't as fast the berkeley encoder. (Also it produces three times
  as mutch files as the berkeley once. For big movies this might get a 
  problem).
- change berekeley encoder to the new version 1.2. It works now with alot 
  better quality. (Now all feature of the UNIX version). Thanks to Larry
  Rowe and his team.
- dropped the qt2yuv program, because it only produces stanford encoder 
  files.

- qt2yuvBerkeley got some bug fixes. Main changes:
  1. For some reasons the display window does show the movie centered.
     This bug is fixed now. All movies should work without problems.
     I also tested it with Adobe Premiere 3.0 which produce multiple
     segment files with differned compressor and it worked.
  2. The bug which cause a unrecoverble crash when reaching the heaplimit 
     is fixed. The converter stops when the heapspace get below 100 KByte. 
 
  3. Added support for YUV conversation of qt movies of any length.
     First the converter will count all frames in the qt movie and inform
     you in its statuswindow about it. Now you have to enter the startframe
     on which the converter starts with it conversation. Next you will be 
     asked if you want continuemode or not. 
     
     Yes = if you convert multiple segment keep the overall startframe 
           in the parameter file allways 0.
     No = The overall startframe is set to the actual startframe!!! Might
          be usefull when converting only a special part of the movie.
     
     y or n is ok to select on of this options!!!
     
     After you have reached the end of the conversation you will be 
     informated how many frames the converter could convert in this 
     session. If you didn't reach the end write down the number of the 
     continue startframe and quit the converter. Now restart it and use the
     same parameters and set the new startframe to the number the last 
     run told you.

- removed sources of the encoder because it took alot of space. All of 
  you with ftp access are able to get the source from toe.cs.berkeley.edu.
       
Software you will need too: You could use either mpeg player 0.3 (no 
suppport for it anymore. Stop because Sarkle is far better and Apple will 
bring MPEG playing support next year for Quicktime) or Sparkle 1.6. If you 
love a good Mac interface Sparkle is the way to go.
  
Because this is a beta version I like to get your feedback. So if you find
something you don't like, problems or what ever, sende me a mail and tell
me about. Thank you.

Here first some short intro to my approche to convert Quicktime movies to
MPEG's. First the Quicktime to YUV converter is a FutureBasic program which
reads in any Quicktime movie and converts it to a three seperate Y,U,V 
files. YUV is color model used in video technics as for example MPEG. This
program should be really mac like to use. Sadly I couldn't make this
program
ran in background. I contacted the developers of FutureBasic, but they
still
don't know why my code wont run in background. I hope I could fix this in
a future version. The YUV to MPEG conversation is handled under MacMiNT,
a multitasking UNIX like development enviroment. I prefer to use MacMiNT 
because the MPEG converter which might run for hours, could run easy in 
background with out modifing the source code. This version of MacMiNT now 
has a stable background feature. I hope you will love MacMiNT as much as 
I do. I have also a version of the MPEG encoder which runs under MPW shell,
but without the background feature. (If you are interested in this code
send mail to me). 

The MPEG converter is based on the Berkeley mpeg 1.2 encoder you will find
on
toe.cs.berkeley.edu. The YUV converter was done by me as said befor in 
FutureBasic to speedup development time alot. As you see this software is 
first approche to help you using MPEG. I hope a friend of mine who has 
writen Sparkle will continue to work on a MPEG encoder integrated into 
Sparkle.

You will find this software on:

URL=ftp://suniams1.statistik.tu-muenchen.de/pub/mac/MPEG/encoder/
    [131.159.64.1]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Audio on Macintosh ?!

This just in...

There is now a program for Macs that allows automatic real-time playback
of MPEG files called MPEG/CD.  You can download it from ftp.iuma.com,
or check out our Macintosh help page with a web browser at:

http://www.iuma.com/IUMA/html/use/Macintosh.html

The following is a text dump of the Mac help page...


   
                         PLAYING AUDIO ON A MACINTOSH
                                       
    Last updated: 95-02-14
    
   
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   New!!! MPEG CD for Macintosh is now all you need in order to hear 
   realtime MPEG audio on your Macintosh or decompress an MPEG file to 
   an easily readable AIFF. All you need to do is download ...
   
                     MPEG_CD__1.0.1.sea.bin (480 Kb)

   ... from URL=//ftp.iuma.com/audio_utils/mpeg_players/Macintosh/

   For system requirements for MPEG/CD, read the plain text Readme file.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
  CONFIGURING NETSCAPE FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYBACK
  
   Yes! You can now have Netscape automatically launch your MPEG audio
   player when you click on an MPEG audio file. Just follow these simple
   instructions...

    1. Click on Preferences under the Options menu in Netscape.
    2. Select Helper Applications from the menu in the Preferences
       window.
    3. Click on the New... button.
    4. Enter audio for the Mime type and x-mpeg for the Mime subtype.
    5. Enter mp2 in the Extensions box.
    6. Selct MPEG/CD for the Application and choose MPEG as the File
       type.
    7. Click on Launch application for the Action.
       
   ... and that should be it!
   
     _________________________________________________________________

Special thanks go to Brian Balthazor for bringing us this cool
not-so-little utility!

-Jeff Patterson
 IUMA Co-Czar

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: SUBSECTION - Atari

[ Bainstorm is not continuing to develop their MPEG-Player for ]
[ the Atari, really sad :o( Maybe somebody can help them ?     ]

From: laurent@brasil.frmug.fr.net (Laurent Chemla)
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 14:39:39 +0000 (GMT)

  Frank,

  Of course you're right. Raphael Lemoine replied quickly, directly online
on Compuserve, and as the author of our MPEG software he's quite disapointed
by the little interest there is about.

  As a commercial entity, Brainstorm is trying to sell his work. But this
kind of work is not an easy thing to sell. A few developpers asked us about
our software, but could'nt pay for it. An easy solution would be to sell it
to Atari Corp directly, and then developpers could get it from Atari at low
price. But Atari licensed Cinepak for this usage, and they aren't interested
in buying our MPEG. So we decided to forget it for a while.

  Our MPEG runs at the same (or so) rate, not depending on the resolution.
It uses some of our 'real time' dithering algorithms on Atari. Added to the
work on the DSP coding, you can see it's a good piece of software Raphael
did. But it's not enough for selling it as a Shareware library, because it
does'nt handle P and B frames nor the sound, and we wont work on it if we
cant expect to be paid for this work. I have personnally written a few news
about this software in the Atari's Usenet conferences, but only got 3 mails
in return, and nothing really exciting.

  Anyway, be sure we will tell you if anything new occurs about that.

Laurent Chemla @ Brainstorm

--
Laurent Chemla : chemla@cnam.cnam.fr or laurent@brasil.frmug.fr.net
Brasil BBS  - +33 1 44 67 08 44 -  Atari France developpers support

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: SUBSECTION - Amiga

[ There are lots of other MPEG-ports for the AMIGA ]

mpeg2_0amiga.lha     gfx/show    50K  40 Berkeley MPEG player 2.0
mpegplay201_bin.lha  gfx/show   147K  43+MPEG player V2.01 executable
mpegplay201_src.lha  gfx/show   170K  43+MPEG player V2.01 sources
mpeg_player122.lha   gfx/show   206K 104+MPEG Player 1.22 (for all Amigas)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: MPEG2DCTV
   
This is a quick and dirty program to decompress MPEG video
streams to a DCTV display buffer.  'mpeg2dctv' _REQUIRES_ 
a 68020 or higher CPU, and a 68881 or higher FPU.  On an Amiga 3000,
(25 MhZ 68030 and 25 MhZ 68882), 'mpeg2dctv' plays at about one
frame per second in grayscale (the default option), and at about
8/10 of a frame per second in full color. 
    
'dctv.library' is copyrighted   1991 by Digital Creations, Inc.
             
The MPEG source code used in 'mpeg2dctv' is copyrighted   1992 by
the Regents of the University of California.
              
'mpeg2dctv' is copyrighted   1993 by Benjamin Reich.
             
This software is provided AS IS.  It is provided free of charge, except
that if you find this program useful, I request that you make a donation
of US$10 (or the equivalent) to the charity of your choice.
               
-Benjamin Reich
                   Portal:    Counsellor
                   BIX:       ben_rich
                   Delphi:    BEN_RICH
                   Usenet:    Counsellor@cup.portal.com
                   U.S. mail: 805 Lincoln Drive
                              Voorhees, NJ  08043
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: SUBSECTION - NeXT

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: MPEG_Play.app

[ This piece of software is now available in Version 2.5. Its usally ]
[ called MPEG_Play.*, but due of filename conventions its called     ]
[ MPPLAY, mpegplay.* or mpeg_play.* .                                ]

This is a new release of MPEG_Play.app, a threaded program for displaying multiple MPEG videos with capability for visual cueing ("scrubbing").  Release 3.0 is required to run the application, so it should probably be archived with other 3.0 binaries.

MPEG Play is in the process of evolving from a bare-bones MPEG animation
viewer into a full-fledged NeXT application.  The current version is multi-
threaded and supports the simultaneous loading and playback of multiple
"mini-videos" at different rates as high as 28 frames per second.  There
is a group of "live controls" in the Window Settings panel which can be
manipulated even while the video is playing.  There is also a Transport
panel with tape deck buttons.  Both can be found in the Tools submenu.

MPEG Play will keep track of different settings for each window, reflecting
the current values in the various information panels whenever you select a
new main window.  When playback is complete, a few interesting performance
statistics are shown in the Playback Statistics panel.  This panel, as well
as a File Info Panel, can be found in the Info submenu.

Notes:

You may have to wait some time after opening a new file before it will be
shown.  The MPEG file must be decoded into memory to allow rewind and random
access.  The frames will be counted as they are loaded.

Playback is slightly slower when the Transport panel is visible, simply
because it takes some CPU time to update the frame indicators.  For maximum
speed, close the Transport panel and use the menu options for Stop, Pause,
and Play.

This version is not recommended for NeXT systems without substantial system
RAM and swap space.  I have not personally used this software on anything
other than a NeXTdimension with 88 MB of RAM, but future versions of MPEG
Play will be adjusted for any problems with other systems.

I have updated to version 2.0 of the mpeg_play code from Berkeley.
B&W support is temporarily disabled.

You can reach me as brianw@sounds.wa.com

Official place for this pice of software is:

URL=ftp://ftp.CS.ORST.EDU/software/NeXT/binaries/graphics/MPEGPlay2.6.FAT.tar.Z

    Brian Willoughby.Software Design Engineer, BSEE NCSU
NeXTmail welcome here.Sound Consulting: Software Design and Development
BrianW@SoundS.WA.com.Bellevue, WA

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: mpegnext

This is a hack of Version 2.0 of the MPEG decoder from the Berkeley
Plateau Research Group.  (Please read their README.)  Basically, I
replaced all the X-Windows stuff with NeXTstep windows and discarded
all of the dithering stuff.  Don't need it since the NeXT is true color.
This version is specifically optimized for a 16bit color NeXTstation.
I did have to sacrifice some image quality to get the speed up.  I don't
know what its performance is because I use a NeXTdimension.  In fact I
would very much appreciated if some one would mail me the performance of
this decoder.  I am hoping for 6 frames/second.  The NeXTdimension gets
5.5 frames/second.

To get other MPEG movies please read the notes from the Berkeley
Plateau Research Group.

gary@isr.recruit.co.jp
Media Design Center
Recruit Co.
Tokyo, JAPAN

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: SUBSECTION - SGI


A publically available program which can convert SGI
movie files created with the IRIX 4.0.5 Movie Tools to MPEG.

It was all compiled on a SGI indigo Elan running 4.05.

Rob
        (kooper@cc.gatech.edu)


===========================================================================

~Subject: SECTION 4. - MPEG-RELATED HARDWARE

We even have MPEG-AUDIO-solutions now, but still not a lot of
information about them :o( who knows more ?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: MPEG audio Layer-3

From: popp@iis.fhg.de (Harald Popp)
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 11:12:33

MPEG- Audio Layer-3: Best Music Quality at Lowest Bitrates!

Audio Export: PC board with realtime Layer-3 audio codec
Philips PKI: MAGIC codec for telecommunication networks
Telos Systems: ZEPHYR codec for ISDN, Switch 56 and other networks
Dialog 4: MUSICTAXI TYPE 3 for telecommunication networks and various PC 
          solutions
Fraunhofer-IIS: Objective Quality Assessment with the NMR meter 
                (Noise-to-Mask Ratio)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Video-Maker

From: jmm73@frmug.fr.mugnet.org (Jean-Michel Mercier)
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 93 22:07:34 MET DST

VITEC VIDEO-MAKER

Since December 92, there is a french MPEG PC-plugin. It's called
VIDEO MAKER and it's manufactured by :
 VITEC
 3 bis rue P. Baudry
 92140 CLAMART
 FRANCE
 tel (33) 1.46.29.03.00
 fax (33) 1.46.29.03.04

Features :
Claims to be the world 1st MPEG board.
2 selectable video inputs NTSC/PAL/SECAM/S-VHS
Picture up to 768x576 (by step of 16)
Colors  : 256/32K/16M
Frame : 1 to 25 Fr/s
No need for VESA Features connector
16 bit short card, no dip nor jumper, no DMA nor IRQ
Windows software :
IMAGER : record & compress moving or still picts.
MPEG PLAYER : full software MPEG decoder/player, doesn't need the board
(it seems that you can freely give this soft with your MPEG seqs.)
MULTIMEDIA MANAGER VM : well known software from Multimedia Telecom to
build your scripts with icons, sync. with sounds, etc...
DLL for MCI & AVI availables

What it's not said in the commercial :
The card doesn't sample sound today but a daughter board should become
available (you can still sample sound separ and the resync with M. MANAGER)
You can't use the full specs at the same time (ie 768x576, 16M colors,

25 fr/s) even with a 486 as the compression is made by software
In fact, the sequence is 1st stored in memory using a proprietary
compression scheme and saved to disk as .VSF files. Then the offline
compression could be achived. It seems that a PC with 8Mbytes of RAM
should be able to record about 10 to 30 secondes of video.

What's on the board :
The board use Philips Digital Desktop video chipset (TDA8708+TDA8709+
SAA7191+SAA7197) witch provides 4:2:2 YUV video @ 14.75 Msmp/s
It doesn't use the SAA7192 color space converter to get RVB so this
should be done by software.
There is also an XC3042-100 FPLA from Xilinx and 1Mx8bits of dynamic
ram (70ns). Probably used for pre-compression.

The public price is 3500FF ($625) but Surcouf (Paris' computer store)
sells it about 2300FF ($410).
There was an ad in march issue of BYTE (p127) @ $695. For US & canada
the ad said to phone to 404-921-6167 or fax to 404-921-9243.

There is an test of this card (9 other ones) in june issue of the french
magazine "Multimedia Solutions".


     NOTE : I have nothing to do with VITEC. This is not an ad. It is
     my personnal understanding of VITEC's ads, magazines reports and
     phone calls to VITEC. Please contact VITEC for any contractual
     informations.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Some MPEG chips

Some new chips are about to be available from SGS-Thomson :
STI3223 : motion estimator controller, intended to be used with
previously released STI3220
STI3230 : MPEG coder
STI3400 : MPEG coder (STI3240 coder + DCT processor)
STI3500 : MPEG 2 coder
Do you want me to get some more details fast ?

TI introduce the TMS320AV110 MPEG audio decoder based on TI's 16 bits
DSPs (about $14).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Optibase

OPTIBASE's MPEG2000 (Herzliya - Israel, Canoga Park - Calif.)
It use an CCUBE (witch?), DSP56001 ant DCT chips from LSI.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: ReelMagic

[ And there it is, just real magic ;o) ]

ReelMagic MPEG-Video-decoder-card from Sigma Design

Video-Decoder-Specification
- MPEG-Video-Standard ISO 11172-Paris
- 32.768 colors
- Resolution 1024x768
- 30 frames/s
- Video Overlay

Audio-Specification
- MPEG-Audio Level I/II
- 8/16-bit PCM, 44 kHz sampling-rate
- Synthesizer Yamaha OPL2 compliant
- Audio Mixer PCM with FM or MPEG
- Frequence 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Audio-Out Stereo-Headphone
            2x75mW with 32 Ohm
            2 V rms with 100 Ohm

System-Specification
- Standard ISA PBM PC 16 bit card
- VESA compliant Feature Connector 15 Pin
- DMA and IRQ-selection via Software (no Jumpers)
- SCSI-I, CD-ROM-driver (MSCDEX 2.2)
- Driver for Windows 3.1 and DOS 5.0 and higher
- Support of Windows OLE 2.0
- MPEG-compatible with VideoCD (CD-I coded movies !!!)
- Audio-compatible with DOS games and MPC sound standard


Price at Cebit'94:
- Reel Magic Lite (just the card) DM 679.-
- Real Magic with SCSI-interface  DM 899.-
- Real Magic Kit with Sony CD-ROM DM 1299.-

Contact:

SIGMA Designs, Inc.
Leopoldstrasse 28a/II
80802 Muenchen/GERMANY
Fon: ++49 89 336443
Fax: ++49 89 335967

or

SIGMA DESIGNS, Inc.
47900 Bayside Parkway
Fremont, CA 94538 USA
Fon: (510) 770-0100
Fax: (510) 770-2640
COMPUSERVE: GO DTPVEN
Sigma BBS: (510) 770-0111 (9600-8-1-N)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Cinerama

From: Yasser.El.Chemaytilly@aedi.insa-lyon.fr (Yasser.El.Chemaytilly)
Subject: Re: CD-i, and the MPEG format
Date: 4 Mar 1994 16:00:03 GMT
Organization: INSA Lyon - Computer Science Dept / France

 At this time, there are 3 ways of playing a Video-CD-I:

 - the Phillips CD-i with the Full Motion Video Card (approx $950 in Europe)
 - the Amiga CD^32 with its Full Motion Video Card (approx $670 in Europe) 
 - a PC, 486 DX or DX2 with the Reel Magic MPEG card and a Sony 
..  CD-ROM player (for the moment, it only works with the Sony
..  player) (the card costs approx $650 in Europe without 
...   CD-ROM player)

  The quality of the playback is identical and very good with either the CD-i or
   the CD^32 (same manufacturer) but is a little bit lossy with the PC card.

   Anyway, the Reel Magic card is practically as expensive as a full
   CD^32 system, CD-i (+FMV cartidge) being only a little more expensive. 

   There may be software for playing Video-CDs on PCs, but I haven't heard 
   of them yet.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: XingIt!-card

[ Well and there's the XingIt!-card now, I try and translate the ]
[ German description.                                           ]

Features:

- realtime MPEG-Video-card for 386/486 and Pentium
- Framegrabber for Xing-Format I-frame only movies from
  Video-In in 24-bit/pixel QSIF resolution
- PAL/SECAM and NTSC
- Xing-MPEG-to-real-MPEG compression software
- different playing modes up to 320x240/30frames
- selectable Refreshrate
- Windows-Applications, incl. Window for Windows MCI and Media Player

Price: DM 1499.- (so about $900)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: MPEG-decompression hardware list

Company        Product      Support                         Resolution Price

Ace            Classic      1,5,6,11,23
Ace            Movie24      1,2,3,4,5,6,12,14,16,20         1280x1204
AllMedia       2000         1,5,8,9,12,13,16
AllMedia       III          1,5,6,8,9,(12),13,16
ArtMedia       MD-341       1,2,3,4,5,14,15,16              640x480
Aztech         V. Galaxy    1,5,6,16
Bluepoint      MPX-3        1,2,3,4,5,10,11,16   
Creative       MP400        1,2,3,11                        1024x768
Hellfrich      Peggy Plus   1,5,6,12,(Amiga)                           DEM 998
Edison         MPEG card    1,5,6,10,11,16,20,23            1024x768
K+s computing  Master       1,2,3,5,11,14,23                           DEM 599
MovieVision    MPEG 2in1    1,5,8,9,12,13,16,18             800x600
Optibase       PCMOtionPro  1,5,6,9,12
Orchid         Kelvin MPEG  1,2,3,5,6,11,13,22              1024x768
Sigma Designs  RealMagic    1,2,3,4,5,6,11,12,14,16,22      1024x768   DEM 499
Spea           Showtime +   1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,12,13,14,22  1024x768   DEM 850
Vitec          DRT1         1,14,21,23
Vitec          MM2          1,5,11                          1024x768

 1 = MPEG-1         2 = CD-I            3 = CD-V            4 = Karaoke
 5 = 16-bit audio   6 = Audio Level 2   7 = Audio Level 3
 8 = AVI-grabber    9 = VfW 1.1 comp.
10 = VESA comp.    11 = RealColor      12 = 24 bit True C. 13 = VGA-card
14 = MCI driver    15 = API
16 = ISA           17 = EISA           18 = VLB            19 = PCI
20 = Feature conn. 21 = TV-decoder     22 = RealMagic com. 23 = S-VHS out
24 = CD-Rom
                         
The resolution is the highest with MPEG-playback.

*8  most cards support the freezing of single MPEG-frames and capturing
    of incoming frames, but only a few support real grabbing
*11 most cards only support 64k color when playing MPEG
*23 this can be a Composite Video Out or similar


I know there are many, many more, please send my info about YOUR mpeg
solution. Should we put the companies addresses here as well ?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Amiga CD32

[ Ha, a game-console with MPEG-support, a bit crazy, but the best things ]
[ get pushed by nig-nag <grin>                                           ]

From: George Sanderson <G.Sanderson@ais.gu.edu.au>
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 12:28:31 +1000

You may want to add to your MPEG FAQ that the Amiga CD32 game console is
able to play both standard MPEG VideoCDs and the CD-I specific VideoCDs,
with the addition of the MPEG card which is available now.

As far as I know, the recommended retail price just for the CD32 in the USA
is US$399 but it is selling below that now (US$376).  In Australia, it is
selling for AUS$594.  It has been released in Europe in late 1993 and
is selling very well (120,000+ units sold as of Jan'94).  The major release
date for the US market is sometime in March.  There are at least
20 CD32 specific titles available (and it can play CDTV titles as well)
and over 100 CD32 titles will be released in 1994.  The price of the MPEG
module is (guessing) US$299.  Commodore is selling the units directly
to wholesalers.

here is some info about the Amiga CD32 (made by Commodore) with
info about its MPEG module mixed in (i'll mail you more info about
the MPEG module when I get it):

                     AmigaCD32         

       CPU/Speed: 68EC020 @ 14MHz
    Architecture: 32 bit
      Throughput: 3.5 MIPS      
        Chip RAM: 2 Megs of DRAM
        Fast RAM: None
Non-Volatile RAM: 1 KB

    Custom Chips: I/O ports, Audio and Interrupt controller,
                  DMA Controller, Video data controller (AGA chipset)
                  CD-ROM controller

  Animation CELS: 8 Sprites per scanline (64-bit)
                  & Unlimited Bobs (blitter objects)

     Video Modes: can display upto 1280 x 512 in 15 kHz
         Colours: 256,000/16.7 Million   

           Sound: Stereo 8 bit         
                  Stereo 18 bit CD-DA  
                  DSP planned          

          CD-ROM: Double Speed         
                  Top Loading          
Software Video
          Player: Partial Screen using 4096 Colours (CDXL)

            MPEG: Available now (see below)
         PhotoCD: Available as third party software

 Game Controller: 11 Buttons           

Supported CD Standards:

AMIGA CD32
Audio CD
CD+G (Graphics)
Most CDTV including CDXL
VideoCD (MPEG1) - see below

Connectors + Switches:

2 x Games Controller/Joystick/Mouse ports
High Speed auxiliary connector for keyboard and virtual reality gloves, etc.
Local slot expansion connector
Power Switch and Indicator LED
Reset Switch (momentary)
Headphone jack and Volume slider


MPEG Module (optional)

Full screen, Full Motion Video and Stereo Audio replay direct from disc;
total running time 74 minutes
352 x 288 at 25 Frames per Second (PAL mode - different for NTSC)
Able to play most CD-I MPEG specific titles (they demonstrated that
at the World of Commodore shows playing Star Trek 6, Top Gun, etc.)

The Amiga CD32 hardware is able to genlock its graphics and sound on top of
the MPEG output.  Additionally, while the MPEG module is playing, the CD32
has about 80% of CPU left to use - this could mean some interesting games
with video backdrops.

The MPEG module comes with a MPEG disk that has a few rock video clips.

Audio Output:

2 channel, 4 voice stereo using 8 bit digital/analogue converters
18 bit audio CD stereo at 44kHz

Video Outputs:

S-Video, Composite and RF (UHF) for TV

Included:

11 Button Game Controller
"Welcome" Disc
Consumer Information Manual
CD32 Users Guide
RF video and Stereo audio cables
+ usually packed with 2 games

Physical:

212 mm x 311 mm x 81 mm
CPU 1.44 kg
Power Supply 1.53 kg

Warranty:

1 Year, return to regional service centre

Power Supply:

External, 22 Watts

===========================================================================

~Subject: SECTION 5. - MAILBOX-ACCESS

That's how you can get MPEG-related files via modem.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Genoabox

GENOA has right now a new BBS in Germany (Stefan Hartmann will put new
MPEG-software there too), phone:

  ++ 49 211 686756    (16.8Kb/sec with US Robotics Dual Standard)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Xing Technologies BBS and fax

This is the phone number of Xing Technologies' BBS:

  805-473-2680 (2400b) (USA)
  805) 473-0147 (Fax)

Bryan Woodworth <bryanw@rahul.net> wrote:

Would you also please add, that the Xing BBS now supports v.32bis and HST !
I am not sure on HST, but I am sure it supports v.32bis.  However, I have a
v.32bis modem, and could only connect at 9600. I think they do not have the
modem configured properly.

===========================================================================

~Subject: SECTION 6. - FTP-ACCESS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: FTP-ACCESS - Overview

Please contact these ftp-sites for files before e-mailing to me !!!

URL=ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/MPEG/audio
    [161.105.2.22]

URL=ftp://busop.cit.wayne.edu/sys/pub/simpsons/incoming/mpeg
URL=ftp://busop.cit.wayne.edu/sys/pub/simpsons/incoming/mpeg1

URL=ftp://amiga.physik.unizh.ch/pub/aminet/
    [130.60.80.80]

URL=ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu/
    [129.79.20.17]

URL=ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/msdos/incoming/
URL=ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/msdos/dos/graphics/
URL=ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/msdos/windows3/graphics
URL=ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/aminet/
    [quepasa.cs.tu-berlin.de]
    [130.149.17.7]

URL=ftp://ftp.germany.eu.net/
    [192.76.144.75]

URL=ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/graphics/animation/mpeg
 
URL=ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/aminet/
    [131.188.1.43]

URL=ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/aminet/
    [131.246.9.95]

URL=ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/
    [128.252.135.4]

URL=ftp://isfs.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

URL=ftp://litamiga.epfl.ch/pub/aminet/
    [128.178.151.32]

URL=ftp://merlin.etsu.edu/
    [192.43.199.20]

URL=ftp://mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/
    [128.32.149.157]

URL=ftp://nic.funet.fi/
    [128.214.6.100]

URL=ftp://phoenix.oulu.fi/
    [130.231.240.17]

URL=ftp://pinus.slu.se/pub/graphics/mpeg/
    [130.238.98.11]
 
URL=ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/info-mac/app/

URL=ftp://suniams1.statistik.tu-muenchen.de/pub/mac/MPEG/encoder/
    [131.159.64.1]

URL=ftp://ftp.iuma.com/

URL=ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/electronic-publications/IUMA

URL=ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/
    [128.252.135.4]

URL=ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/MPEG/audio

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: MPEG-2 validation bitstreams

The MPEG Committee MPEG-2 Systems Transport Layer validation bitstreams
(July 1994 edition) are now available via anonymous FTP. Also included
in the archive is a copy of Munsi Haque's draft ANSI-C source code for
Transport layer demultiplexing.
 
These bitstreams are not guaranteed to be 100% correct (especially
since the MPEG-2 Systems document, ISO/IEC 13818-1, is still undergoing
technical content changes), but they are produced by none other than
the world's experts on the subject.
 
 
URL=ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/graphics/x3l3/pub/bitstreams/systems/
    [128.252.135.4]
 
 
 total 3.22 Megabytes
 
 1171551 teracom-3.tar.gz  Teracom bitstream
   27833 COMMENTS          Comments regarding bitstreams
   26731 munsi_v13.tar.gz  MPEG-2 Demultiplexer source code
  355823 divicom-3.tar.gz  Divicom bitstream
  879635 nta-1.tar.gz      NTA bitstream
  777316 sa-2.tar.gz       Scientific Atlanta bitstream
 
 
MPEG-2 Video validation bitstreams are also available in
graphics/x3l3/pub/bitstreams/video/
 
Kind regards,
 
Chad Fogg
cfogg@netcom.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Audio streams and utils

CCETT has been distributing executables only of their Audio bitstream
syntax verifier.  The site address is: 161.105.2.22
Audio conformance bitstreams are also at

URL=ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Accessing Aminet
 
There are many other ways than FTP to access AmiNet:
 
- ADT. This is a front end for FTP that allows easy access to AmiNet.
  Get it from comm/misc/ and compile it on your UNIX box.
- FSP. AmiNet Files can be downloaded from the FSP site disun3.epfl.ch
  port 9999. Uploads are accepted and forwarded.
- NFS. The only AmiNet site that allows NFS mounting of the archives is
  wuarchive.wust.edu. FTP there and read the details in the /README.NFS
- IRC. On Internet Relay Chat, you can talk to various server robots
  like AmiBot, MerBot or Mama, to do queries and retrievals.
- Gopher. There is a gopher server for AmiNet at merlin.etsu.edu. To
  connect, use the command 'gopher merlin.etsu.edu'.
- Modem. In Germany, you can download the AmiNet files from the Incubus
  BBS, telephone number 0931 781464. The login is 'ftp', password 'ftp'.
- Usenet. A list of recent uploads is posted every week to the newsgroups
  comp.sys.amiga.misc and de.comp.sys.amiga.misc. Useful for mail servers.
- Mailserver. Sorry, no specialized e-mail server for AmiNet yet. But you
  can use ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. Send a mail with HELP in the body.
- CD-ROM. AmiNet is available on CD-ROM. Talk to info@cdrom.com, or write
  to Walnut Creek CDROM, 1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Walnut Creek CA 94596, USA
  or phone 1 800 786 9907, +1 510 674 0783 or +1 510 674 0821 (FAX)
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Where will I find test-material for MPEG-encoders ?

[ You can find this in the

URL=ftp://mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/

[ ftp-server. Belongs to there codec.                                   ]

This directory includes 150 raw YUV frames suitable for use with the MPEG
encoder.

The YUV frames are the files flower.*.tar.z.  To uncompress, use the GNU
'gunzip' program.  You should uncompress all of these files inside a
directory named 'flowg'.

To run the test, simply do 'mpeg_encode flower.param'

To make sure the test worked, do 'diff flowgard.mpg result.mpg'
  (there shouldn't be any difference; if there is, let us know)

Please see the file 'times,' which includes time results for various machines
and compilers.


===========================================================================

~Subject: SECTION 7. - WWW-ACCESS

Well, MPEG is a multimedia format and fits perfectly the needs of
the World Wide Web, so there are WWW-site that store their material
in MPEG format and, the other way round, sites that store information
about MPEG itself.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Where is the WWW-home of this FAQ ?

Oh, don't get confused here. This new version 4.0 of this FAQ is
available in HTML form from:

    URL=http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~phade/mpegfaq/

The HTML-Version of the FAQ supports pictures and e-mail
addresses and file location via HTTP-links.

At the following URL you find all the news about MPEG I wrote,
all source-code I produced and all utilities I compiled:

    URL=http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~phade/mpeg.html


Addional there is a HTML-document floating about, that is like
a FAQ as well.

    URL=http://porto.crs4.it:80/~luigi/MPEG/mpegfaq.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: An Interactive Explanation on the Web ?
From: Kevin Lussie <lussi923@cs.uidaho.edu>

I had to write an interactive HTML paper on MPEG for my Digital Image 
Processing class that I am currently taking here at the University 
of Idaho and Washington State University. 

I just wanted to say that your MPEG FAQ was a great resource. 

I was just wondering if you could check out my INTERACTIVE MPEG PAPER, 
if you have time. It is located at 

http://www.cs.uidaho.edu/~lussi923/mpeg-project/index.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Where is the WWW-demo of "The Internet MPEG CD-Rom" ?

                   Try and USE the Internet OFFLINE !!!

To make the "Internet MPEG CD-Rom" interactive, one big hypertext-
document explains and displays the whole contents of the archive,
giving the user a powerful tool, called Cello, to browse through
Megabytes of documentaton and to interactevly select and play hours
and hours of music and movies.

The whole archive itself is organized as one big hypertext-document.
It includes a complete Wide-World-Web (WWW) document, the tools to
use this document on Windows-, Windows-NT-, Linux-, SunOS- and Solaris-
machines are included, most UNIX-hosts can include "The Internet MPEG CD-Rom"
into their hyptertext-services with a single link !!!

You can find a few of all these WWW-documents as an example under the address:

    URL=http://www.b-2.de.contrib.net/harti/mpegcd.htm

.
For a complete description of this famous MPEG archive, real below,
in the MAIL-ACCESS section.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: Which archive is mostly related to MPEG-Audio ?

<IMG SRC="iuma2.gif">

The Internet Underground Music Archive is the biggest archive
storing music in MPEG-Audio format. The already have more than
500 bands presenting their music and on of the nicest Web-sites
ever seen ! Just connect to

    URL=http://www.iuma.com/

  .___ ____ ___ _____    _____   
  |   |    |   \     \  /  _  \       the net's first hi-fi music archive
  |   |    |   /  Y   \/  /_\  \     .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
  |   |    |  /   |    \   |    \    The Internet Underground Music Archive 
  |___|______/____|__  /___|__  /      bands/music/labels/images/bubbles
  ===================\/=======\/============================================
                         How to Use IUMA
Last edited 2/2/94

Here are a few pointers about how to make the most efficient use of
IUMA and the music on it. You may also wish to peruse the
Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ), although it's currently undergoing a 
complete revision. 8)

The first and most important thing to note is that IUMA is best explored 
and used via World-Wide Web (WWW) clients such as Lynx and NCSA Mosaic. 
The WWW is a hypertext-based method of purusing the net that is 
both more intuitive than FTP and Gopher, yet downwards compatible with FTP
and Gopher.

NCSA Mosaic requires a direct network connection or SLIP to the Internet 
and versions are available for Xwindows boxes, Macintoshs and Windows PCs.
FTP to "ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu" and look in the dir "/Mosiac" for all current 
versions.

Lynx is a very good text-mode WWW browser available as UNIX program that 
one runs from their UNIX account. As long as "tar" and "uncompress" are 
not foreign to you, you should have no problems making it work.
You can FTP lynx from ftp.wustl.edu in the /packages/www dir.

The next most important thing to first realize is that all of the music on 
IUMA comes a few forms:

MPEG
  This is the format of the best stereo copies of the music online. You need
  a special player to decode the MPEG compression and play the music on your
  system once it's downloaded. IUMA has a few freely distributable
  MPEG audio players already available for you to download:

    XingSound Player for Windows as mpgaudio.zip
    Tobias Bading's MPEG audio player source as maplay.tar.Z
       People using this on UNIX workstations (particularly Suns), 
       should take a look at the accompanying textfiles.

    Aware Corporation has graciously produced a shareware MPEG audio player 
    for the Macintosh which will be availble for distribution in the 
    next few weeks.

ADPCM
  The ADPCM format is probably going to be phased out of being included
  in IUMA since the quality is not as good as MPEG II. In any case,
  the files have the extension .WAV and are in the MS-ADPCM format.
  The program Cool Edit (cool131.zip) can decode and play them on 
  Windows PCs.

AU
  Some (eventually all) bands will have a Sun Audio (au) sample file which
  is available to download a small 15 second sample of the band before  
  deciding that you wish to download the entire MPEG song. When listening 
  to these note that the Sun Au files are 8bit mono for that full-on 
  compressed midrange AM Radio sound and therefore will sound nothing 
  remotely like the awesome stereo MPEG file. Most machines can 
  understand this format so nothing special should be needed beyond normal 
  audio tools to download and play these files. Player for Macintoshes 
  and Windows PCs can be found on the Internet.

If you have any questions please mail ianc@sunsite.unc.edu.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Subject: What's with Bryan Woodworth ftp-area ?

He changed his internet provider and close his old ftp-site.
The new site is reachable via WWW (the better way) and still
presents lots of information about MPEG and graphics at all:

From: bryanw@best.com (Bryan Woodworth)
Subject: WWW Graphics Page now UP
 
[Lastmod: 09.01.94 11:37:55] 
!!=new info

The WWW Graphics Page is now online via the World Wide Web!
URL=http://www.best.com/~bryanw/
             
[Even if you don't have a graphical front-end, you can still access 
the information.  Plain ASCII output (via the program LYNX) is 
available for those users using dial-up accounts (e.g. Netcom, a2i, 
Portal, CRL, and many more).  You may already have lynx installed 
online!  Enter "lynx" at the shell prompt.  If it doesn't exist, 
just ftp the source and compile it yourself.  See .signature at bottom of
message for details on obtaining the FAQ via ftp.best.com.]

If you're using a Unix dialup account and Microsoft Windows, now
you can experience the glory of the World Wide Web's great
interface without having to pay for a SLIP account or SLIP emulator!
Try SlipKnot today..

URL=ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/win3/internet/

More info available from the WWW Graphics page!

!! This info-file is becoming too time-consuming to update. Therefore,
!! you are encouraged to check out the homepage once a week or so, and click
!! on the "Latest Additions" link for a listing of the latest updates!

Information of the following variety awaits you:
 
  o The FAQ desk -- Graphics information
         
                    * Tom Lane's JPEG faq -- Obtaining viewers and
                      understanding the JPEG image format
                    * A link to the NCSA Mosaic FTP site, for those
END ---------------------- CUT HERE --------------------- 7/8
