LOS ANGELES - RealNetworks is taking another step forward in the streaming media race with the release of its RealVideo 9 codec that is said to be 30% more efficient than Version 8 and can deliver viewable video over a 56K bit/sec dial-up connect.
With the new efficiency in video compression, users can deliver better quality video at the same bitrates they're using now or get a 30% savings in bandwidth while maintaining the same level of quality. RealNetworks claims content creators can deliver VHS-quality video over a 160K bit/sec broadband connect and DVD quality at 500K bit/sec.
More importantly, the ability to stream video to dial-up users (a large segment of the Internet population) allows a company to deliver its message to a wider audience. "Most people on a 56K [bit/sec] connection walk away from doing video," says Kevin Foreman, a general manager in the RealNetworks systems group. "Now you'll have watchable video at 33K to 44K [bit/sec] range. People will stay on longer."
Foreman adds that companies with clogged WAN connections and dial-up remote users can also benefit from the new codec since they can more efficiently use their limited bandwidth to stream corporate communications and sales training.
On the high-end side, RealNetworks has added support for the HDTV format and the ability to deliver video to interlaced video devices, such TiVo and Sony PlayStation, two devices that have pledged to add RealMedia support. In a separate announcement, RealNetworks launched RealAudio Surround, which can deliver up to six channels of surround sound at 44K bit/sec.
RealVideo 9 is backward compatible with previous releases of RealNetworks' client and server products. Users with a RealOne or RealPlayer client will be prompted to download the new codec the first time they encounter a RealVideo 9-encoded stream. Content providers can use existing servers to deliver content encoded with the new codec.
RealNetworks is in heavy competition with Microsoft's Windows Media and Apple's QuickTime for streaming media supremacy. All three companies use proprietary formats for compressing audio and video. Foreman says RealNetworks will submit RealVideo 9 to the group overseeing the next version of the MPEG 4 in an effort to make RealMedia more of a standard in the industry. This will allow for more interoperable hardware and drive down the cost of creating streaming media and still allow RealNetworks to control a large piece of the market.
Foreman says the company has taken a different approach with this release of the codec. Instead of spring a new release on the public and waiting for tools and service providers to adopt the technology, RealNetworks has worked with clients and partners to have RealVideo 9-enabled tools and content ready for use today. Tool vendors Discreet and AnyStream, and service providers such as Akamai and AT&T are currently supporting the new format.
A free preview of the RealSystem Producer that supports RealVideo 9 creation is available here.
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