MARIN COUNTY, Calif­-(2001-01-04 ) Sonic Solutions has announced that Compaq Computer Corp. has chosen Sonic for DVD publishing applications as Compaq expands its multimedia PC offerings to include DVD-based video publishing.

Through its collaboration with Sonic, Compaq will be the first U.S. computer manufacturer to offer an end-to-end DVD solution that allows home users to select personal video clips and graphics, add interactive menus, preview a DVD title and then record it directly to a DVD disc in the popular DVD-Video format. The resulting DVD discs can be played back on set-top DVD players as well as DVD-equipped PCs, making it possible for consumers to publish and share their videos on a universal medium that offers unparalleled video quality at a low cost. Since its introduction in 1996, DVD-Video has become the fastest growing consumer electronics format of all times, with an installed base of approximately 12 million set-top players and 40 million DVD-equipped PCs.

Sonic's award-winning MyDVD and DVDit! are the world's leading applications for consumer and professional DVD publishing, and are built upon Sonic's high-performance DVD formatting engine which has been used to create hundreds of thousands of Hollywood movies, corporate and consumer DVD titles. With their simple user interface, MyDVD and DVDit! make it easy for anyone to create DVD titles in a matter of minutes.

"Compaq has a very strong track record in delivering feature-rich multimedia PCs," said Robert Doris, president of Sonic Solutions, "and the new DVD solutions they will offer represent a stunning leap of functionality and quality for home video enthusiasts. By adding DVD authoring and recording, they will be the first to make the bridge from the PC to the sofa -- for the first time, home users can make videos they can watch on both PCs and in their living rooms on their set-top DVD players."

Until now, consumer video publishing has been hampered by the lack of standard file formats and the need for low-cost, large-capacity storage that can handle the high volume of data associated with digital video. DVD solves these problems because it is a widely adopted standard and can hold large amounts -- several hours -- of high-quality digital video, audio and graphics data.

"With the combination of Sonic's DVD publishing solutions, our latest desktop multimedia PCs, and second-generation DVD recorders, Compaq will lead the consumer video publishing revolution," said Mark Vena, director, Desktop CTO Product Marketing, Compaq Computer Corporation. "We're very pleased to be working with Sonic, the leader in DVD authoring, and together, we believe that we can greatly expand the possibilities for personal video creation."

As part of the collaboration, Sonic will provide DVD technology to Compaq for integration in its MyMovieSTUDIO solution bundle. MyMovieSTUDIO opens up a whole new way for consumers to edit and share their home movies. The MyMovieSTUDIO bundle will be available in Q1 `01 on Compaq's Presario 7000 Series desktops at Compaq's "Built for You" kiosks, via the web at www.compaq.com.

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