C-Cube Unveils Chip for DVD Products

C-Cube Microsystems Inc. unveiled a computer chip that combines eight key functions for digital versatile disc players, a move that it said will speed production of inexpensive DVD products. Shares of the Milpitas-based semiconductor company rose $5 to close at $30.375 in Nasdaq trading. Analysts said the announcement helped counter pessimism about mounting price competition in the market for C-Cube’s less-advanced VideoCD chips. The VideoCD standard, popular in China and other developing nations, didn’t take hold in the U.S. because the discs can’t hold a full-length movie. The new DVD technology fixes that problem. C-Cube’s new ZiVA decoder chip decodes video images stored with the MPEG-2 standard as well as Dolby Digital audio tracks and provides a variety of other functions.