James Delahunty
26 Apr 2006 14:48
Microsoft Corp. and Universal Pictures said they have collaborated on creating high definition discs that utilize the VC-1 codec, which was just standardized by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) at the beginning of this month. VC-1 is one of the mandatory codecs in the HD DVD specification. Microsoft Corp. made that, and several other announcements at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2006 conference in Las Vegas.
The HD DVD format uses iHD for interactive features, allowing Universal Pictures to create discs that include interactive menus that won't interrupt playback, offer picture-in-picture commentaries and a whole host of other improvements. Microsoft will also showcase features included in the upcoming Windows Vista operating system at NAB.
Media Foundation, a new set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), will offer a "glitch-resilience architecture based on audio and video feedback" giving higher priority to the processing infrastructure for streaming video, which will ensure frames are not dropped and that jittery playback is avoided.
Source:
InformationWeek