MIME-Version: 1.0 Server: WebSTAR/1.3.1 ID/5007 Message-ID: Date: Friday, 21-Nov-97 02:57:58 GMT Last-Modified: Friday, 22-Aug-97 22:47:01 GMT Content-type: text/html Content-length: 8098 Radius Press Release: Radius® Announces PAL Support for DV Gear with FireWire

Radius Logo CONTACT:
Rhonda Stratton
Director, Digital Video
Radius, Inc.
408-541-5163
rhonda_stratton@radius.com

Cheryl Landman
Marcom Manager
Radius, Inc.
408-541-5034
cheryl_landman@radius.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Radius® Announces PAL Support for DV Gear with FireWire



Sunnyvale, CA, August 4, 1997--Radius Inc. (NASDAQ:RDUS) ) today announced that its DV/FireWireš products will support PAL format Digital Video camcorders and video tape recorders with digital FireWire (IEEE 1394 standard) ports. Scheduled for release this September, PAL compatibility will be included in upcoming revisions of Radius MotoDV™ and Radius PhotoDV™. Both products currently support the NTSC video standard in use in North America and Japan. PAL (Phased Alternate Line) is the video operating standard in much of Europe and many other parts of the world.

"The success of the DV format is a worldwide phenomenon," said Bud Koch, vice president of marketing, "and we want to participate in that success on a worldwide scale. Right now, no one is providing customers with low-cost PAL solutions for DV equipment with FireWire. We plan to be the first to do so."

Radius MotoDV and PhotoDV are the first two DV/FireWire offerings to reach the market for the Mac™ OS and are currently the only products shipping for this platform. PhotoDV captures still images from DV devices digitally over FireWire. These pictures are ideal for both web pages and printed documents. MotoDV provides real-time digital capture of the DV data stream over FireWire, automatically converting captured clips into QuickTimeš movies. It also provides real-time playback and recording over FireWire, using the hardware codec chips in the camcorder or VTR to decode the data stream at full resolution, in full motion. Both MotoDV and PhotoDV provide remote deck control of the camcorder or VTR from the computer.

"This announcement provides an excellent example of our DV/FireWire strategy," said Joseph Klingler, vice president of video engineering. "We've developed an extremely low-cost FireWire host adapter to which we can add value and functionality with new software releases. It's a big advantage for us as well as our customers."

In addition to updating the MotoDV and PhotoDV software and FireWire drivers, Radius has also added PAL support to the Radius SoftDV™ codec, a core piece of software technology included with Radius DV/FireWire products that represents a major competitive advantage for Radius in this market segment. The quality of the movies rendered by SoftDV is excellent and reflects Radius' many years of experience with DV, motion JPEG, and Cinepak. In addition, SoftDV provides several options that allow software playback to be optimized for the speed of a particular machine. This makes it possible to play DV clips smoothly on the computer screen without expensive hardware inside.

Radius MotoDV is currently offered as a $99 (U.S. suggested retail price) software upgrade to Radius PhotoDV, which lists in the U.S. for $499 and includes the Radius FireWire card and cable. Both products will get software revisions in September to enable support for PAL DV equipment. Pricing outside the United States is set by Radius' international distributors.

RADIUS INC.

Founded in 1986 and based in Sunnyvale, California, Radius offers the highest quality digital video solutions, Super Resolution graphics cards, PC compatibility cards, and professional color calibrated displays for Mac OS systems. Radius products are available through a worldwide network of Radius authorized resellers, system integrators, and distributors. Radius may be reached at 408-541-6100 and on the worldwide web at www.radius.com.

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Radius, PhotoDV, MotoDV, SoftDV, and Cinepak are trademarks of Radius Inc. and may be registered in some jurisdictions. QuickTime, Mac OS, and FireWire are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc, and may be registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other brands and products are trademarks of their respective companies.