Windows Media 9 Now On Linux

Turbolinux have become the first major distributor to provide a Linux-based OS with Windows Media and DVD playback built in.

Version 10F of their distribution comes with both CyberLink’s PowerDVD for Linux and Xine. Xine is the most popular Linux video playback engine and this distro comes with licensed Windows Media 9 codecs.

PowerDVD supports CSS (the Content Scramble System), allowing Linux users to watch DVDs legally, they’re no longer bypassing a copy protection algorithm to decode content off disks.

As Linux distributions go, Turbolinux 10F is not cheap – it’ll set you back US$149 (€125), but then it does contain proprietary commercial software and codecs. However, Windows XP Home, which has the same functionality (with free WM9 codecs) is only US$30 (€25) more expensive than Turbolinux.

Although getting WM9 into a Linux distribution is a step forward, it’s not really all that surprising: Microsoft’s new expanded licensing programme means that the company is very willing to get their media technology onto as many platforms by “allowing the components to be deployed on all platforms—even non-Windows desktops” (from the WM licensing page).

Turbolinux’s announcement

Microsoft’s Windows Media Pricing and Licensing

Windows Media 9 Continues to Make Progress

Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 platform is going from strength to strength – it’s being adopted by more broadcasters, it’s being incorporated in more players and MS are making more refinements to the platform codecs for High Definition media.

Microsoft are watching the platform’s popularity in the film and television world and are building on this by partnering with media companies to develop its range of functions. Work with Adobe, CineForm and BOXX Technologies has demonstrated WM9’s multi-stream High Definition capabilities, and companies like USDTV have adopted 9 as their broadcast format.

It’s not just all broadcast work either — Sonic solutions are introducing DVD Producer WMV HD Edition for producing High Definition DVDs later this year.

Microsoft is also submitting an update to its WM9 compression codec to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

Tandberg Television are currently demonstrating their EN5920 encoding platform – the only hardware encoding solution for WM9 available. Companies like NTL Broadcast and Swisscom’s Bluewin are trialling the EN5920 to provide real-time encoding and decoding of WM9 streams to domestic digital TV customers.

Windows Media Home

Forgent Networks Sues 31 Companies Over JPEG Patent

Forgent Networks are claiming ownership for a patent filed in 1986 by Compression Labs – a dormant company acquired by Forgent in 1997

Forgent Networks are now suing, amongst others, JVC, Matsushita, Fuji Photo, Agfa, Dell, HP, Apple, Adobe … the list goes on.

The suddenly flurry of activity could be something to do with the fact that the patent was filed 18 years ago, and Forgent have less than two years to milk some revenue out of it. However, since the defendants have now been notified, Forgent can now take their time seeking damages, and they can claim damages all the way back to when the claim was issued.

Unisys and Compuserve began to seek royalites on their LZW compression algorithm in the late 90s as that patent neared its expiry. Hence, 20th June 2003 was known as “GIF Liberation Day” when the patent finally expired.

If these suits are successful, everyone will have to charge more for software that uses the JPEG format (i.e. Almost everything) or the file type will just be abandoned for something less controversial. This will suit Microsoft, as the PNG format will be most likely benefit.

We ran an April Fool on a company who claimed to own the patent for plain text in programs – but now we’ve seen this story, we rather wish we hadn’t.

Forgent Networks

The Register comments

US Wireless Broadband Market Grows – But Which Standard Will Survive?

One thing is for certain – demand for wireless broadband is going to increase rapidly in the US. However, perceived competition between the three main access technologies means that many companies don’t know how to meet that demand.

WiFi, WiMAX and 802.20 are three technologies for providing broadband network connections wirelessly, and it’s difficult to tell which one to back in this race.

WiFi is well established, has a reasonably large installed base and is in use globally. As McDonalds have already named their WiFi provider, you can tell it’s reached mainstream.

WiMAX is backed extensively by Intel and Nokia, and is rapidly emerging as a favourite, though cards employing the technology and WiMAX-enabled laptops are not expected to reach the market until 2007.

WiMAX, based on the 802.16 standard, has huge bandwidth – typically more than 30 times that of 3G data services – and it allows subscribers to receive broadband network access simply by attaching a receiver to their home. This method is being trialled by BT in rural areas as an alternative to digging up fields. The standard is also suitable for people on the move as WiMAX can be used in vehicles up to a speed of 150 Km/h.

The 802.20 wireless networking standard will let you travel at 250 Km/h and still keep a network connection, and so is ideal for deployment on high speed trains.

There are some overlaps between the two technologies, but they are not meant to compete. WiMAX is intended for fixed locations like houses, or a mobile user with a PDA or laptop. 802.20 is intended for high-speed mobility, and can be overlaid on top of an existing WiMAX network.

The WiMAX forum

Senza Fili Consulting’s report on wireless broadband

Inside 802.16

NAB: New 5.1 Extension Means Better Compression

Dolby Laboratories have announced an extension to their Dolby 5.1 codec, called Dolby Digital Plus. The codec extension is of particular interest to television broadcasters because of the efficiency of its compression: if audio tracks take up less room, then it leaves more bandwidth for more channels.

Broadcasters are keen to deliver more channels to customers – particularly when they’re charging them – but need to keep picture quality up to, or even better than, current standards.The existing DD codec supports but rates from 320Kbps to 640Kbps for 5.1 audio – yet this new extension will reproduce 5.1-channel sound down to 192Kbps. Dolby Digital Plus has a new top end to – up to 6Mbps, which will no doubt be handy in the future.

Importantly, Digital Plus is backwardly-compatible with previous versions of the 5.1 codec.

Dolby have already come up with an interesting application for the new codec – a DVD could access a studio’s website and stream a live director’s commentary, or other interactive content, through the viewer’s TV.

Dolby Digital on Digital Plus

NAB: HP Partnering to Develop Digital Media Platform

Hewlett-Packard has teamed up with leading content creators, distributors and technology companies to develop a standards-based technology platform indented to simplify the production of digital media. The Digital Media Platform (DMP) is an integrated, open system linking production and post-production processes, and is based on a strategic alliance with Warner Bros. Studios and Dreamworks.

“The business model that has guided this industry for nearly a century is changing radically,” said Carly Fiorina, HP chairman and chief executive officer. “Content is still and will always be king, however thousands of new storytelling experiences, applications and services are just around the corner. There is money to be made just as there is money to be saved — if this industry embraces the change and the opportunity the digital revolution presents.”

DMP combines HP software with expertise the company has gained from working with companies like Dreamworks, Avid and Starbucks. The foundation of DMP is a work flow system where creatives working on a project share a common set of assets for rendering, post production and editing.

HP and Warner are also pooling their expertise to restore classic films – combining WB’s proprietary software with HP’s image processing expertise, data management and servers.

“The impact of music, film and television moving toward all-digital platforms is profound,” said Shane Robison, HP’s chief strategy and technology officer, in a press release. “Warner Bros. Studios is at the cutting edge of embracing the digital transformation. By partnering, HP and Warner Bros. Studios will leverage technology and expertise to create compelling, personalized experiences for consumers that will set the bar at a whole new level.”

HP’s release on the news

CeBIT: DVD Burners Maturing, New Products on the Way

More manufacturers are producing multi-format DVD burners than ever before and prices for the hardware are falling rapidly. Some of the uncertainty has been taken out of the format as Sony and Pioneer make drives that support both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW disk creation and reading.

However, 16x drives (rotating at 10,800 revolutions per second!) are near the maximum speed possible for DVD, so since we can spin the disk much faster, the next battle is to fit more on the disk. Storing data more densely on the layer will allow faster read times (the laser doesn’t have to travel so far) and higher capacities (smaller pits mean more data in the same area).

Double-sided, double-layer disks are possible (DVD-18) but are currently expensive to produce – though DVD mastering techniques (both home burning and commercial production, though these use completely different techniques) are improving all the time. Dual-layer disks used to be much more expensive to produce than they are now – remember the first DVDs you bought where you had to flip the disk over half way through the film? Cheaper mastering techniques were so that Warner Brothers could sell yo that disk for £25 and still make a profit – never mind you had to get out of your seat half way through Goodfellas.

The next format up will be Blu-ray, from the Blu-ray Disk Founders (BDF – including Dell, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, LG, Philips, Pioneer and Sony amongst others). As the name suggests, Blu-ray uses a blue laser to read data. Blue light has a shorter wavelength, so can read smaller pits – and tha means denser data: a dual-layer disk will store 50gb. As the data pattern is s intricate, this makes them more vulnerable to data destroying scratches. The format is currently available in Japan and the USA, but the disks are cartridge based – the next iteration of the format will not use a cartridge as it will have a coating supplied by TDK.

Naturally, the step to the next level will not be that simple: NEC and Toshiba are promoting HD DVD at CeBIT. This new format uses the same optical head as a conventional DVD player, and a dual-layer disk will store 30gb. Look forward to seeing HD DVD burners on the market in 2005.

We hope that backwards compatibility is high on each one of these manufacturers’ lists.

Sony’s domestic Blu-ray recorder

DVD Demystified on the five (no, six! Isn’t it seven?) proposed for high density disks

CeBIT: First Look at ExpressCard

PCMCIA, the expansion card format that was hard enough to spell, never mind configure, has a successor and it’s being shown at CeBIT.

PCMCIA was good for a while, but is showing its age – it’s pre USB, pre-Firewire and harks back to the days before even Windows 95. A replacement is on the way: the ExpressCard. It’s smaller, has a faster bus, uses less power and supports plug-and-play auto-configuration. Their bus is based on PCI Express and USB2.0 architecture – hence the hot-swap feature.

The new modules are half the size of their predecessors – they come in 34mm and 54mm formats and are a mere 5mm thick.

Look out for ExpressCards appearing towards the end of 2004 – compliant cards will feature an orange rabbit (obviously representing mobility and speed).The Express Card standard

Saturday CeBIT: Manufacturers Recognise Importance of Consumers’ Digital Lifestyles

Many big exhibitors are pushing devices, components and software designed to enhance consumer’s digital lifestyles, in answer to the rapidly growing demand for smart devices capable of sharing content. Traditionally a business conference, this year has seen a pronounced shift at CeBIT towards the needs of the consumer.

Many consumer mobile phones contain applications and features purely seen as business tools a few years ago, such as scheduling software, email and connectivity with PCs and other devices.

Many exhibitors, such as Sony and Microsoft are displaying devices intended to introduce home users to a world where they can download and share content easily anywhere in the house. Microsoft is promoting this vision through its Windows XP Media Centre PC and has now developed the Windows Media Centre Extender which will allow users to access their Media Centre PC from anywhere in the house. We reported on Microsoft’s “iPod killer”, the Portable Media Centre yesterday, and this new device will be fully compatible with home Media Centre PCs.

Sony’s answer to all this, the hotly-awaited PSX, is on display at CeBIT. The games playing aspect of the PSX is almost secondary to its other functions: PVR, music, electronic programme guide, photograph and home video album … and all compatible with other Sony devices such as cameras, PDAs and even the PSP when it appears. The feature list for the European PSX has yet to be finalised, so we’re afraid that the model on display at CeBIT today is the Japanese box. A shame really, because those people who would be most interested in the PSX will already either seen the Japanese edition, or even had one imported by now.

CeBIT 2004 has shown how important digital lifestyles are to both manufacturers and consumers – there is a huge range of devices available with more coming soon. Sadly, for true interoperability, manufacturers would like to lock their customers into one brand – which is likely to lead to frustration. The Sony music online shop will only work with Sony software on Sony devices, Microsoft won’t let you play Windows Media files on a Linux PVR.

We hope that consumers will campaign for open standards and better interoperability before companies lock down the entire chain, from software to hardware to media.

CeBIT News Site

Hand-held Digital Video Broadcasting – a summary of progress at DVB World 2004

The fourth Digital Video Broadcasting World conference was held in Dublin last week – and one of the key topics discussed was the developing standard for broadcasting digital video to hand-held and other mobile devices.

The new standard was only conceived two years ago, and after a couple of name changes (it has previously been known as DVB-M and DVB-X), has been named DVB-H. The standard was accepted by the DVB Technical Module in January and is expected to be submitted to the European Television Standards Institute this year.

As the standard is still so new, there are still some problems to be ironed out, mainly power consumption and some network issues.

DVB-H’s core function is the delivery of digital media to small and portable devices such as mobile phones, but without using mobile phone networks. It has been designed to deliver MPEG-2 streams, but can broadcast any type of data.

The proposed standard addresses five issues with mobile devices: they tend to move about, they have smaller screens, they have smaller antennas, they require indoor coverage and they run on battery power.

DVB-T (the terrestrial standard for digital broadcasting) was not really considered for mobile video as it was designed for use with rooftop antennas and does not have the building penetration required, nor is it very power efficient. In theory it could be used to broadcast to mobile devices but a separate dedicated standard would allow many optimisations, rather than just bolting on functionality to a standard that was never actually designed for mobile use.

DAB was designed for devices with similar location and power demands, but simply does not have the spectrum width to carry the data required.

Another interesting aspect of DVB-H is that it can coexist with DVB-T without disturbing devices using the other stream, such as set-top boxes.

DVB-H uses time-slicing between streams to reduce power consumption, but this saving is more or less lost when the total bit rate for a service is low. It’s designed to carry only IP (Internet Protocol) services, so is obviously constrained by the capabilities of the carrier protocol – but since IP is well understood and supported, and has a rich set of features such as strong encryption, this should not present many problems.

As we said at the beginning, the standard doesn’t use existing mobile networks to deliver content, but we should add that it also needs more masts than conventional broadcasting (though less than cellular coverage, and the masts need not be as large as conventional broadcast masts). It is expected that existing cellular masts will be upgraded to transmit DVB-H signals. However, the cellular network will provide the return path, allowing users to pay for content and receive licenses for their purchases.

Presented at DVB2004 was the Nokia’s 7700 is the first device to support DVB-H through the addition of their Streamer SU-6 accessory. The SU-6 is attached to the 7700 like a battery pack and is just the beginning for devices that will provide new forms of multimedia and entertainment for consumers.

DVB Home

The Nokia 7700

The European Television Standards Institute