[2.16] What's a Nuon player?

Nuon was a specialized "media processor" chip, designed by VM Labs, that was powerful enough to play DVDs and video games. The chip was originally intended for video game consoles, but was hitched to DVD's wagon when the game market dried up and the DVD market exploded. Some DVD players from Samsung, Thomson (RCA), and Toshiba were built on Nuon technology. The extra processing power in a Nuon player enabled special features such as graphical overlays, digital zoom, and live thumbnails. Some DVD movies were produced with added content designed specifically for the Nuon platform. As of the beginning of 2002, four Nuon-enhanced DVD movies were available: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (Special Edition), Bedazzled , Dr. Doolittle 2 , and Planet of the Apes .

In December 2001 VM Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and in March 2002 the company's assets were purchased by Genesis Microchip. A new division, Nuon Semiconductor, was formed to market Nuon chips under the Aries name. On July 24, 2002, Genesis laid off the entire Nuon division. RIP.