New patents could propel Microsoft's digital media
InternetNews | at | by Mike
Microsoft has just been awarded two United States patents for a proprietary method of packing a high-definition television signal onto a hard drive, internetnews.com has learned. The development could help propel Microsoft's digital media strategy, whereby the company has, since late 2002, worked to position its Windows Media 9 technology as an industry standard for the delivery of high-definition (1280 x 720) video streams directly to the PC.
A video-compression expert, who requested anonymity because he is working on related technology, called the concept very interesting. "It gives you a system where a single decoder can handle standard definition video and high definition, too," the source said.