Adobe brings high definition to Flash videos
By Martin LaMonica
News.com
http://news.com.com/Adobe+brings+high+definition+to+Flash+videos/2100-1012_3-6203500.html
Story last modified Mon Aug 20 21:05:01 PDT 2007
Adobe Systems intends to add support for a video compression standard that
will bring high-definition video to Flash-based streaming content on the Web.
The company on Tuesday is expected to announce the release of a beta
version of its Flash Player, code-named Moviestar, that adds support for
H.264, the video compression portion of the MPEG 4 standard.
The updated Flash Player also will be able to take advantage of hardware
acceleration in most PCs' graphics cards and is optimized for dual-core
processors, said Mark Randall, chief strategist for dynamic media at Adobe.
It will support HE-AAC version 2, a more efficient audio compression
standard that is also part of MPEG 4.
The new features will be made available in the fall as part of an update to
Flash Player 9.
Support for the H.264 standard will lead to more Web video content being
available in high definition, Randall said. He said Adobe chose to support
the standard now because it is being adopted more by content producers and
media distributors like cable companies.
Flash is a de facto standard for streaming video used by YouTube and other
high-volume Web sites.
But Microsoft is challenging Flash's dominance in Web video with
Silverlight. Microsoft has signed on large video publishers to use
Silverlight, including MLB.com.
Silverlight supports Windows Media Audio and Video and another video
compression standard based on Windows Media called VC-1. Microsoft has not
announced plans to support H.264, but a representative said the company
could add support based on customer feedback.
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