Microsoft announced a new technology initiative to develop IPTV solutions for broadband network operators. Microsoft said it would work closely with key industry partners and service providers to offer a compelling pay-TV experience that scales for serving millions of potential viewers. Planned features include instant channel changing, multimedia programming guides with integrated video, and multiple picture-in-picture capability on standard television sets. High-definition television, next-generation digital video recording and video on demand (VOD) functionality will also be supported.
The end-to-end solution will be based on Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series encoding technology, which has approximately three times the efficiency of MPEG-2 and twice that of MPEG-4. The Microsoft TV solution also will be designed to support the range of Windows Embedded operating systems for IPTV set-top boxes, including Windows CE .NET. It will also include digital rights management (DRM) technology to help secure content while adding new standards-based service protection to provide higher levels of security for video assets and TV services. Microsoft said its architecture will scale to millions of subscribers through intelligent management of video assets and their delivery.
Key partners for Microsoft TV include Harmonic and TANDBERG for real-time video encoding for broadcast and IPTV telecommunications companies; Juniper Networks for its IP-based infrastructure platforms; Intel for computing, communications and consumer electronics devices for the home; Pace Micro Technology for digital TV set-tops; and Thomson for its video technologies, products and services.
Moshe Lichtman, corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV Division, said "With IP networks reaching scale and maturity, the next generation of TV services is within our reach."http://www.microsoft.com/tv/default.mspx
- Microsoft recently unveiled its Windows XP Media Center 2004 operating system and announced digital content providers. Key capabilities of Windows XP Media Center 2004 include: advanced PVR functionality; the ability to connect the Media Center PC to a standard or widescreen TV or a high-resolution display; support for adaptive de-interlacing and video scaling; the ability to record TV shows on standard DVDs or Video CDs; support for 5.1 surround sound; and the ability to browse an online programming guide up to 14 days in advance.
- Windows XP Media Center 2004 will also include an "Online Spotlight" service that highlights downloadable content from Microsoft partners, including CinemaNow (1,200 movies on-demand), Movielink (new releases and classic films from the big Hollywood studios), MSN TV (news, weather and financial information), Napster (500,00 tracks of downloadable music), WildTangent (online gaming), Musicbrigade (an archive of music videos), and Live365 (an Internet Radio network with some 5,000 stations).
- In September 2003, Microsoft decided to submit the compression technology used in the Windows Media Video (WMV) 9 codec to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) C24 Technical Committee for consideration as an openly available international standard.
