Hard Bytes [More Bytes]	DVD on the PC
Courtesy of The Peddie Report Gamasutra October 10, 1997 Vol. 1: Issue 7b	According to figures from San Jose, California based market research firm Dataquest, by 1999 we can expect the industry to make the crossover from CD-ROM to DVD-ROM. Intel is very gung ho on DVD for a number of reasons. First of all, it eats up processor power, and that's something that Intel loves. Secondly, DVD delivers high resolution, 3D audio, digital video output. Thirdly, and probably the most poignant point, a Pentium II processor plus DVD-ROM replaces the equivalent Pentium plus CD-ROM combination. There is little evidence to support the contention that game developers will be able to make video-based interactive content just because DVD is faster and better quality than CD-ROM. Clearly, software support for DVD playback using host processing, particularly when it is a Pentium II, is here and getting better. The graphics vendors have support for DVD and MPEG2 available now, and will have it as standard in the coming 18 months. A lot of DVD technology is going to be primarily in systems coming out at the end of this year and in large volumes by Christmas 1998. And if Dataquest is right, DVD will be a standard part of the configuration in 1999 PCs. What is not certain is what game content will take advantage of all the storage capabilities of DVD. Will it be better animation, and art in cut scenes, or will we see bigger game levels, and more code, or will it start off with great AC 97 audio? We'll see.
	Will the vision of living room computing call the PC Theater be able to deliver five times the value of television at five times the price?
	Omid Rahmat (omid@compuserve.com) is Vice President of Jon Peddie Associates (Tiburon, CA), a leading market research firm tracking digital media technologies.