"Based on Sigma's feature-packed EM8300 decoder IC, the Wired 4DVD card includes Macintosh drivers to turn a Macintosh into a full-featured DVD player that fully exploits all of the spectacular digital video and Dolby digital surround-sound capabilities of the DVD format. The card plays DVD movies at up to 1600 x 1200 resolution without burdening the computer's processor.
Designed with robust system silicon, Wired 4DVD handles all complex MPEG-2 video and audio streams, thereby reducing the burden on the computer's CPU. As a result, the PC runs at maximum performance while multitasking (e.g., having DVD, live TV broadcast feeds, and interactive web browsing open in concurrent windows).
Apple's DVD solution is fine for simple playback of a DVD clip/movie on the computer screen, but Wired 4DVD adds the ability to view MPEG files on the computer screen, view MPEG files and Hollywood movies on a television by way of composite and S-Video output, as well as output AC-3 audio via S/PDIF. Furthermore, Wired 4DVD is the only Macintosh solution that will work on all existing Macintosh PCI-based computers."
Unfortunately, pricing information is not yet available, but the product will ship in volume in March. The Wired 4DVD will be demonstrated at MacWorld Tokyo this week.