Microsoft Licenses MPEG Playback Technology for Windows

Strategic Insights -

Microsoft has announced that it has licensed software-based MPEG playback technology from Mediamatics Inc., allowing future versions of Windows to experience TV-like video capability and CD-quality sound without requiring special add-on hardware. This move is expected to bring digital video content to a broader range of users and applications, including corporate, education, and entertainment sectors.

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft has licensed MPEG playback technology from Mediamatics Inc. for future versions of Windows, enabling TV-like video capability and CD-quality sound without special hardware.
  • The inclusion of high-performance MPEG playback in the operating system will help proliferate the use of digital video in various applications.
  • Independent software developers now have a broader audience for enhanced or new titles that take advantage of MPEG's full-motion, full-screen, VHS-quality video.
  • The support of MPEG playback in Windows will help encourage the adoption of the MPEG standard, and developers can design for and use MPEG-based applications with confidence.
  • Microsoft Windows will continue to provide different video playback solutions for users and developers, with the addition of software MPEG giving developers increased choice.
  • Windows 95 already supports MPEG implementations in hardware and will ship with new 32-bit versions of Intel Indeo and SuperMac Cinepak codecs.
  • MPEG is a popular compression-decompression (codec) system for squeezing full-screen VHS-quality digital video and CD-quality audio into small files.
  • Mediamatics' software-only MPEG codec delivers revolutionary video playback performance and quality, previously only possible with specialized hardware accelerators.
  • Windows 95-based MPEG video playback performance from CD-ROMs on 90 MHz Pentium-class computers is approximately 24 frames per second with 11 KHz audio.
  • The software-based MPEG technology will be available to developers through Microsoft developer relations programs prior to its inclusion in future releases of Microsoft operating systems (post-Windows 95).

Statistics:

  • MicrosoftCorporation(Nasdaq: MSFT)profits increased to $788 million in the 1994 fiscal year, up 30% from 1993.
  • Mediamatics' software-only MPEG codec achieves a video playback performance of 24 frames per second on a 90 MHz Pentium-class computer.
  • More than 1 million copies of Windows 95 were sold in the first two months after its release in August 1995.
  • MPEG is expected to become a widely adopted PC standard, with Mediamatics' software-only codec playing a crucial role in its adoption.

Sources:

  • Microsoft Corp.
  • Mediamatics Inc.
  • Intel Corp.
  • RenderMorphics Ltd.
  • NEC Electronics Inc.
  • Waggener Edstrom