14 DAY TRIAL // The New Microsoft VC-1 Encoder software development kit (SDK) is designed to enable manufacturers to reek in the benefits of the core technologies implemented by the major Hollywood studio to bring high quality to HD DVD. The VC-1 Encoder SDK replaces the Windows Media Format SDK delivering improved image quality, faster encodings, optimized features and updating capabilities.
"Our strong heritage in video encoding with Windows Media Video and our years of work with Hollywood studios are reflected in this latest VC-1 Encoder technology and new support program," said Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Consumer Media Technology Group at Microsoft. "We'll be rolling out new advancements to tools manufacturers in a consistent and familiar way, giving licensees the assurance of always having the latest encoder improvements and making it easier for them to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of video distribution."
The VC-1 Encoder SDK allows VC-1 video outside of the Windows Media Format boundarie; but more important, the software development kit provides high quality processing technology. Microsoft has extended the delivery scenarios to comprise programs for HD DVD or Blu-ray, but also a MPEG-2 transport stream for broadcast and Internet Protocol television. The SDK additionally delivers support for the MP4 file format container and Material eXchange Format (MXF) for easy interchange.
"For broadcast and IPTV, in particular, it is now easier for tools manufacturers to implement closed captioning, improve interlaced encoding quality and performance, and enable easy output to MPEG-2 transport streams. Special features have also been customized for market segments such as high-definition optical discs; the Microsoft VC-1 Encoder SDK can enable parallel encoding for significant improvement in speed as well as segment-based re-encoding, which allows users to re-encode only the portion of the content that would benefit from another encode," Microsoft added.
Microsoft promised that the VC-1 Encoder SDK will be made available as a collection of application programming interfaces but did not point to an official release date.