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ESS's VibrattoII MX DivX Certified DVD Chip Powers
Samsung's New Line of DVD-VHS Combo Players
Samsung's DivX Certified Players Enhance Digital Entertainment

ESS Technology, a leading provider of silicon solutions for digital imaging, digital video and digital audio consumer electronics, today announced that its Vibratto™II MX system-on-chip (SOC) DivX Certified™ DVD chip is shipping in volume in Samsung Electronics' latest line of DivX Certified DVD-VHS combo players. The market acceptance of the ESS DivX Certified solution is bringing consumers to a new level of entertainment, with the highly enhanced sound and video quality of DivX® and MPEG-4 movie playback.

ESS's VibrattoII MX chip incorporates a servo DSP, reducing the overall system cost, and integrates progressive-scan video processing to provide sharp, brilliant, and flicker-free images on high resolution television displays. The VibrattoII MX DivX Certified DVD processor decodes and plays MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DivX movies, as well as MP3 and Microsoft® WMA audio.

All types of media are compatible with the ESS VibrattoII MX, including DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, and VCD. The built-in VHS unit in the Samsung combo player offers cassette tape record and playback, thus satisfying both the digital-video enthusiast as well as the legacy analog video devotee. The Samsung system also supports digital photo viewing and digital audio decoding such as Dolby® Digital as well as DTS™ Surround, offering realistic theater-like 3-D audio and sound effects.

'The ESS VibrattoII MX DivX Certified DVD processor's versatility provides Samsung with new market opportunities beyond traditional DVD players. With DivX and MPEG-4 video playback, Samsung can now fulfill the growing demand from consumers that want to view Internet-acquired videos on their televisions rather than on a PC monitor. ESS has tremendous digital video technologies, and we look forward to developing more products using ESS's technologies," stated In-Rok Do, vice president of the Digital Video System Division at Samsung Electronics.

Patrick Ang, executive vice president and chief operating officer at ESS Technology added, 'We are pleased to play a part in Samsung's continuing success in the global consumer entertainment market. With the DivX certification, Samsung customers can rest assured they have total playability of MPEG-4 and DivX movies available on the Internet. We are also very pleased to be selected for this long-term relationship with Samsung, demonstrating ESS's continuing commitment to offer leading-edge products in the digital entertainment market."

About ESS Technology

ESS Technology, Inc., designs and markets high-performance digital video processor and imaging sensor semiconductors for the consumer digital entertainment, digital photography, cellular phone and digital home markets. ESS products include highly integrated chips for DVD players, DVD recorders, VCD players, digital media players, digital audio systems, digital still cameras and camcorders, and camera-enabled cellular phones.

ESS, headquartered in Fremont, California, has approximately 400 employees in North America and over 100 employees in the Asia providing R&D, sales, and technical support worldwide. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.esstech.com

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunications, flat panel display and digital convergence technology. Samsung Electronics employs approximately 75,000 people in 89 offices across 47 countries. Samsung Electronic is the world's largest producer of memory chips, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. Samsung Electronics consists of four main business units: Digital Media Network, Device Solution Network, Telecommunications Network and Digital Appliance Network Businesses. The Samsung Electronics web site is: http://www.Samsung.com

About DivXNetworks

DivXNetworks is a consumer-focused video technology company positioned at the center of multimedia convergence. DivXNetworks's core offering is the DivX® video codec, the world's most popular MPEG-4 compatible video compression technology with over 100 million users worldwide. Often called 'the MP3 of video," the patent-pending DivX video technology offers DVD-quality at 10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files, enabling full length films to easily fit on a CD or be delivered over broadband connections. DivX video technology powers a range of applications that span the convergence value chain, from a secure IP-based video-on-demand solution to next-generation consumer electronics products and video software applications. DivXNetworks is headquartered in San Diego, California, with satellite offices in Los Angeles and San Jose California, Taipei Taiwan, and Dortmund Germany. For more information, visit www.divxnetworks.com

Source: ESS Technology (PDF)