VM Labs and Samsung Electronics America announced today that Samsung would incorporate NUON media processing technology in a new DVD player. Samsung’s DVD-N2000 uses this new technology to enable advanced interactive features and dramatically enhance audio and video performance. The first NUON enhanced Samsung DVD players are anticipated to reach store shelves in the first quarter of 2000.

NUON technology turns a DVD player into a complete video entertainment system. Standard DVD movies will not only run on NUON enhanced DVD players, but will benefit by vastly improved movie-viewing features. NUON enhanced players will also be able to play a wide variety of entertainment and educational software as well as bring audio CDs to life with stunning visual effects modes.

VM Labs is licensing third party publishers to develop NUON interactive software that will serve the family market. At least six initial NUON titles are scheduled for release to coincide with hardware availability. Peripheral ports will allow users to plug in joysticks, keyboards and other devices, providing additional ways to interact with the DVD player. Samsung’s DVD-N2000 will be the first of their DVDs to be produced using NUON and will be available in the first quarter of 2000 with a MSRP of $499. The DVD-N2000 offers exceptionally smooth
Shuttle, as well as a new pan-zoom function that allows the user to select and magnify any portion of the picture up to twenty times. The NUON processing allows this dramatic magnification with little distortion thanks to advanced filtering algorithms. And this astounding flexibility is available any time, even while the movie is playing.

NUON further allows the DVD-N2000 to play CD discs at half-normal speed or twice normal speed with minimal distortion. It can even play a CD backwards. CD Playback is even more interesting with the elaborate graphics options, including a colorful spectrum analyzer display and other dynamic images that respond to the musical content. Most exciting, however, is that the DVD-N2000 will also function as the family gaming console. Games are in development and soon consumers will be able to switch from watching, to listening, to playing, at
the change of a disc.