Future
The Latest
from Microsoft
WMV
HD
·
First,
Microsoft is announcing major new support for “WMVHD” which
stands for “Windows Media Hi-Definition Video” and is based
on the award-winning Windows Media Series. And are
announcing 16 new high definition movies being released
including 10 IMAX titles from MacGillivray Freeman, titles
from Artisan Home Entertainment, National Geographic, and
more.
·
These will
ship as “companion” DVD discs inside of the DVD package,
which play back on a Windows XP PC. This gives users the
ability to watch the entire movie as it was meant to be seen
– in glorious high-definition – up to 6 times the quality of
standard DVD and with full 5.1-channel surround sound (using
WMA).
·
They will
be available in retail starting with the IMAX film “Coral
Reef” available right now and others coming to market over
the next 30-60 days
Windows
Media Center :
· Windows®
Media Connect (or Media Connect for short), which will power
the next generation of networked devices, enabling the
devices to seamlessly access and playback digital media from
a Windows XP PC, including content from popular music and
movie services. Major vendors are fully supporting WMC
including Arcadyan Technology, Creative Labs, Dell,
Mediabolic, PRISMIQ, Rockford, Roku, Simple Devices, and
Toshiba.
-
Media Connect will overcome two critical hurdles
faced by networked media devices today: first –
today’s connected devices will not play secure
content from the popular music/video services and
second – there is no standard/consistent way to
access media on a Windows XP PC using networked
devices.
HighMAT
·
Third,
we’re announcing broad new support for HighMAT technology by
leading consumer electronics manufacturers, chip vendors and
software providers. HighMAT is designed to enhance the
interoperability of digital media between Windows PCs and
consumer devices using physical formats such as CD and DVD
discs. New support from HighMAT comes from Ali Corp, Analog
Devices, Apex Digital, BHA, Cyberlink, Equator, Malata North
America, MediaTek, Panasonic, Sigma Designs, Ulead Systems,
and Zoran,
WM
Momentum
· Windows Media is now supported on over
500 devices which is 150% growth in just 1 year.
-
WMA is now supported on over 60 devices that work
with the new music services (BestBuy, Musicmatch,
Napster, Walmart, etc). These 60 devices combined
are the largest installed base of devices that
support secure digital music– over 2 times that of
Apple’s iPod installed base and certainly offer more
choice!
-
80
chips from the premier integrated circuit
manufacturers that support WMA and in some cases WMV
right on their chips – even high definition WMV!
-
There are a host of new devices being announced at
the show:
-
The first DVD players to support WMV playback -
from Apex Digital, KiSS Technology, and Malata;
-
The first Windows Media-based PVR - from Malata;
-
Taking media to a whole new level with Portable
Media Center which supports ALL your media
including music, music videos, photos, photo
stories, home movies, movies from music services
as well as TV shows from Windows XP Media Center
Edition.
WMS News
in Press Releases Outside DMD:
www.Microsoft.com
·
Beyond
DMD’s announcements, Windows Media Series is powering the
new MSN Video on Demand service as well as the new Portable
Media Center, and supported by the new MCE Extender
technology. WMS is part of all three of these
announcements.
·
Windows Media Series is also part of many other
announcements at CES including Sonic Solutions
(joint), Sigma Designs (3rd party), Equator (3rd party),
Malata Diva (3rd party), Sand Video (3rd party),
MacGillivray Freeman (3rd party),
KiSS Technology (3rd party), PortalPlayer (3rd
party), Rockford and Simple Devices (3rd party)
and Centrality (3rd party).
DRill down on WMV
HD
WMV
HD
-
Windows Media Series scales to deliver the best
viewing experience on any screen – from handheld
displays to the big screen. With WMV HD, Windows Media
Series even supports high definition video (up to
1080p) and true 5.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound.
-
WMV HD
enables a great HD experience today on Windows XP PCs.
Thanks to the quality and compression of WMV HD, content
owners can deliver an entire feature length film in high
definition, with up to 6 times the resolution of DVD
video, on a single DVD disc. This disc can then be sold
in a DVD set that contains both the standard DVD video
disc and a WMV HD “companion” DVD disc. The standard
DVD video disc plays in a DVD player and the WMV HD disc
plays on a Windows XP PC or it can be played back on a
TV using MCE.
-
At CES
we’re announcing 16 new WMV HD movies including 10 IMAX
movies from MacGillivray Freeman, movies from Artisan
Home Entertainment Inc., National Geographic, Taxi 3
produced by Luc Besson, and more.
-
The first of these titles is immediately available
at retail in the US – the spectacular film Coral
Reef Adventure. With a SRP of $19.99, this DVD set
includes two discs— one disc has the standard
definition film, and the other DVD is a WMV HD
“companion” disc of the movie that plays on a
Windows XP PC in up to 1080p resolution.
-
Coral Reef Adventure will also be promoted at all
Gateway Country stores nationwide and Gateway.com
and will be given free to all consumers who purchase
a qualifying Gateway Windows XP Media Center Edition
PC.
-
We’re
also announcing today products and services from a
variety of companies in the digital distribution chain,
for content owners looking to create their own WMV HD
content. This includes:
-
Sonic Solutions, who will develop and deliver new
DVD production tools that allow film studios and
production facilities to easily create
high-definition titles in Windows Media
High-Definition Video (WMV HD) on DVD.
-
Authoring facilities from Playground Media Group,
Canned Interactive and Mastery International
Pictures
-
Digital Rights Management from SyncCast
-
Encoding by Sample Digital, Technicolor and Mastery
Picture International
-
Production services from Ascent Media Group, Artisan
Home Entertainment, Big Picture Digital Productions,
Europa Corp. and MPO Online
-
WMV HD
is here today for playback on Windows XP systems – and
it’s also ready for future high definition applications
in next generation consumer devices. WMV HD uniquely has
the scalability to bridge both today’s and tomorrow’s
world of in-home entertainment. At CES, we’re seeing
some exciting additional steps for WMV HD, including:
-
Leading vendors Sigma Designs and Sand Video are
announcing chips for DVD players that provide native
support for high definition WMV playback. These
chips will start to be included in DVD players in
the next year.
-
An
exciting example of potential future use for WMV HD
is being demonstrated in Toshiba’s booth at CES.
There, Toshiba is working with NEC and Microsoft to
demonstrate WMV HD content playing on a next
generation DVD player that uses the DVD Forum's
recently approved "HD-DVD" optical disc. Windows
Media Video is one of the candidate compression
technologies in consideration by the Forum and we're
excited about how NEC and Toshiba have chosen to use
WMVHD in this demonstration at CES to show off the
promise of the HD-DVD optical disc.
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