News Via's OmniChrome Hi-Def Multimedia Graphics

In a series of announcements at ECTS today, Via announced that Club-3D would be the first to the European market with the S3 Graphics OmniChrome S4 multifunction graphics card (which has native HDTV support), and that OmniChrome products would be bundled with InterVideo’s WinDVD, WinDVR, WinDVD Creator and InterVideo Home Theater:

ECTS, London, 1 September 2004 - S3 Graphics and Club-3D today announced the availability of the eagerly anticipated OmniChrome Hi-Def™ multimedia AGP card solution for the PC add-in board market. The Club-3D OmniChrome S4 retail package will include a remote control and feature an unprecedented software bundle that includes InterVideo’s latest revisions of WinDVR™, WinDVD® and WinDVD Creator™ to maximise OmniChrome’s extensive feature set.

Omnichrome is the only board in its class to feature the unique Chromotion™ Programmable Video Engine which significantly enhances the media playback experience, enabling an extensive range of real-time video processing operations and, as with the entire S3 Graphics DeltaChrome family of products, OmniChrome benefits from an ultra-high quality, Hi-Def™ HDTV capability to fully visualize the video output of any source without the need for quality reducing conversion dongles or other patch solutions.

“We are very happy to be first to bring OmniChrome to Europe,” said Judith Ma Tseng, President of Club-3D. “The Club-3D OmniChrome board is a great addition to our line up of S3 Graphics based products and is one of the most highly featured graphics solutions in its class, representing great value for money.” Club-3D is a leading supplier of high quality graphics solutions in Europe.

“The introduction of OmniChrome solutions in Europe by Club-3D is an important event for both our companies and further reinforces our commitment to supply the important European PC graphics market place with high quality, feature rich PC graphics products,” said Dr. Gerry Liu, VP of Marketing at S3 Graphics. “Featuring our Chromotion video display engine and native HDTV support, OmniChrome provides the optimal solution for home digital entertainment enthusiasts, bringing TV to life with great video graphics and highly flexible PVR and VOD functionality.”

With the press of a button, OmniChrome users will be able to launch InterVideo’s WinDVR™, enabling full control over OmniChrome’s on-board TV Tuner. The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) will allow users to schedule the recording their favorite programs in DVD quality MPEG-2, while pausing live TV and time-shifting can be also be controlled by remote or an intuitive keyboard and mouse interface. WinDVD®, the world’s most popular DVD playback software, is compatible with a wide range of digital media formats including DivX and VCD.

Users of analogue video devices will be able to bridge the digital divide and capture real time video using S-Video, composite and component input directly into wide range of digital formats and perform Hi-Def digital media playback at HDTV resolutions using the board’s native Hi-Def video-out functionality.

InterVideo’s WinDVD Creator™ adds further value to the Club-3D OmniChrome package, enabling users to edit, transform and merge the captured video content into new movies for recording in various formats including DVD, VCD, WMV-9 and DivX. DVD Creator offers sophisticated linear and non-linear editing capabilities and allows for the inclusion of digital pictures and music in the final movie creation.

There's more information at the VIA website, and If you're at ECTS, you can check the package out at S3 Graphics stand.