IBM to Launch ‘Multimedia’ Computer Line

International Business Machines today will unveil its strategy for integrating video and sound into its computer systems with the launch of a new “multimedia” personal computer and other products under the brand name Ultimedia.

Unlike some other firms that are targeting the consumer market with machines that handle images and sounds as well as text, IBM’s Ultimedia products will be aimed at corporate and educational customers, said David Baron, associate editor of the newsletter Digital Media.

The initial roll-out will include a new PC that contains a device for playing special compact discs, known as CD-ROMs. Unlike other companies that have begun selling computers with CD-ROM players, the IBM machine will use an advanced format called CD-ROM XA.

With the new PC, IBM is lining up against a group of companies, led by Tandy and software vendor Microsoft, that have joined to support a standard for multimedia computing known as MPC.

Ultimedia will offer a range of audio and video capabilities not only for PCs but for powerful desktop workstations and larger computer systems as well. Thus businesses will be able to integrate sound and image capabilities into corporate computer networks, enabling people to send video clips as part of their electronic mail, for example.

A key element of the Ultimedia strategy is an improved version of a technology called DVI, which converts video images to the digital language of computers and then compresses them so they can be easily stored and transmitted.