HD Windows Media Video Demoed at NAB 2004
Microsoft is flexing its media muscles. At NAB 2004 Monday, Microsoft announced Windows Media Video 9 Series HD (WMV HD) and an assortment of related products. WMV HD can be typified as a continuation of Microsoft's wooing of the film industry.
With the introduction of the new video format, customers can now engage in real-time, end-to-end, high-definition (HD) video production of broadcast media and optical media such as DVDs on the Windows desktop.
Last year, Microsoft brought Windows Media Video (WMV) to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) for review. In doing so, Microsoft opened the door for third-party developers to build on top of Windows Media technologies; thus providing the industry with better access to its compression technology and satisfying US government broadcast standards regulations.
WMV 9 HD has base-level compatibility with the proposed open WMV 9 standard, according to Microsoft. "If VC-9 is approved as a standard, any changes made by Microsoft or other licensees of the technology to "improve" the codec and its performance would have to follow the SMPTE spec to ensure compatibility," a company spokesperson told BetaNews. "Any proprietary improvements made to WMV9 in
the future, for example, would be held to that standard."
The bulk of Microsoft's announcements concerning HD at NAB 2004 have come from ISVs that leveraged Microsoft's core media technologies. One such example is Sonic Solutions, which ported a special version of its DVD authoring application to support the production of DVD titles using WMV HD. Early beta access is being provided to production companies that are interested in testing out Sonic DVD Producer.
Additional products and solutions have been announced by Adobe, BOXX Technologies and CineForm.
Senior Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox remarked on the news, stating, "The success of Microsoft's WMV HD strategy hinges on consumer interest and whether the increase in quality passes the "better enough" test. CDs could replace vinyl records and DVDs could displace VHS tapes because the technologies were better enough to justify consumers replacing their existing music and movie libraries."
Wilcox also pointed out that broad adoption of WMV in Hollywood could spark wider format proliferation and better sales of Windows Servers.
In related industry news, Microsoft competitor Apple announced a bevy of products born out of a high-definition version of its popular Final Cut Pro software.