Microsoft is reporting growing momentum among broadcasting companies for new services that support its Windows Media 9 Series encoding technology. Among the companies adopting Windows Media 9 Series are Rainbow DBS, the satellite services division of Cablevision Systems; Akimbo Systems; Shanghai Broadcasting Lab; and U.S. Digital Television Inc. (USDTV).
- Rainbow DBS’s VOOM HDTV satellite service will use Windows Media 9 Series as one of the compression technologies to expand its available satellite capacity for HD offerings from more than 30 to more than 60 channels. VOOM plans to roll out advanced codecs beginning with standard definition (SD) later this year and HD next year.
- Akimbo Systems announced it will launch an Internet video-on-demand service for television in June using Windows Media Video 9 Series and Windows Media DRM. Akimbo’s video content partners include CinemaNow, CinemaPop, Golfspan, iFilm and more than 30 others. When the Akimbo service debuts, it is expected to feature more than 10,000 videos in 50 categories including independent films, foreign language, news, health and fitness, sports, children and education. The Akimbo Service automatically delivers an onscreen program guide filled with video previews and editorial information and providing viewer options like parental controls. From the guide, Akimbo subscribers choose which programming they would like to download to the Akimbo Player for later viewing. The Akimbo set-top appliance will hold up to 200 hours of video.
- U.S. Digital Television, a digital terrestrial “over-the-air” television service provider, will deliver 12 channels in SD using Windows Media 9 Series. USDTV’s television lineup includes Disney Channel and Toon Disney, ESPN, ESPN2, Discovery Channel and TLC, Food Network and Home & Garden Television, Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network, and FOX News Channel.
Microsoft also noted that its submission of the compression technology used in the Windows Media Video 9 codec (VC-9) to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) C24 Technical Committee was recently elevated to Committee Draft status. http://www.microsoft.com
- In September 2003, Microsoft announced its decision to submit the compression technology used in the Windows Media Video (WMV) 9 codec to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) C24 Technical Committee for consideration as an openly available international standard. Windows Media Video 9 provides compression efficiency approximately three times that of MPEG-2. The technology scales from SD to HD video and can support multichannel audio, positioning it for content creation, broadcast production, content management and distribution over a variety of networks.