| Microsoft Corp. today announced the final release of its breakthrough Windows Media™ Audio and Video 8, the first digital media technology to make possible the real-time delivery of full-screen, near-DVD-quality film content over today’s broadband connections. Microsoft® Windows Media Audio and Video 8 delivers a 30 percent improvement in quality compared with the previous version, delivering unmatched quality for narrowband and broadband users. Leading online film and video providers ALWAYSi, CinemaNow Inc., FILMSPEED, IMAX Corp., Intertainer Inc., Kanakaris Wireless and SightSound Technologies have embraced the new technology and are releasing thousands of hours of film content using Windows Media Video 8. – Encodes Windows Media 8 content for on-demand streaming and download-and-play. – Enables Two-Pass Encoding to optimize quality for on-demand (streamed or download-and-play) content. – Supports “True” Variable Bit Rate (VBR) Encoding for download-and-play scenarios. True VBR can be applied over the entire duration of a high-motion sequence, ensuring the highest quality. – Enables Batch Encoding of Windows Media 8, allowing content developers to encode large numbers of pre-recorded media files. |
