Intel Corp has sided against Sony Corp and Philips Electronics NV by joining the DVD WG-4 Audio Working Group as the first computer industry representative in a forum whose members mostly consist of consumer electronics companies. The Audio Working Group is a committee of the DVD Forum composed of 30 consumer electronics and music industry representatives to create the specifications for the recording industry’s next audio format using DVD. In making the move Intel has moved away from the audio proposal that Sony and Philips announced back in November. The two company’s offering is the magnetic super audio disk which they will market as advanced audio CD technology. The Super Audio Disc is double-layered. One layer is identical to that of conventional CDs and playable by CD players; a second, high density layer offers six times the recording capacity of a CD and allows 74 minutes of sound recording, the same as a CD, but adds multi-channel recording of video and text information as well. Intel’s own PC audio spec, Audio Codec ’97 version 2.0, was announced at the September Intel Developer Forum. Intel said the specification defines new options to help PC OEM customers integrate components needed to support next-generation audio-intensive PC applications such as DVD, 3D surround sound, multiplayer games and interactive music, but it differs from the DVD audio proposal on offer from the DVD Audio Working Group. The Intel spec also defines new extensions supporting modem and docking to help both desktop and mobile manufacturers incorporate these new features more quickly and cost-effectively.
