Sand Video and Microsoft Work Together to Bring Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series to Sand Video Product Line

Sand Video and Microsoft to bring Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series to Sand Video product line. Sand Video's first product offering will be a High Definition multi-standard A/V decoder chip incorporating Windows Media 9 Series, AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2.

LAS VEGAS, NV (PRWEB) January 8 2004--Sand Video, Inc., a recognized expert in Advanced Video Coding/H.264 semiconductor video compression technology, today announced that it is working with Microsoft to support Windows Media 9 Series (WM9S) across its Compression Advantage(TM) product line. The new product will be among the first chips to support WM9S in high definition, and represents the first product from Sand Video to support Windows Media 9 Series.

The first deployment will be a real-time high-definition A/V decoder chip supporting Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series, AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2. Sand Video plans to deliver this chip mid-2004 and expects this to be the industry's first multi-format high-definition real-time silicon-based decoder able to support all three major digital formats in one chip. Sand Video also plans to subsequently incorporate support for WM9S encoding in its codec products, thus creating the first single chip codec to support real time standard definition encoding of WM9S, AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2 as well as Windows Media High Definition Video (WMV HD), AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2 high definition decoding.

Sand Video's next-generation compression technology can be used in a broad range of consumer video applications such as cable and satellite TV set-top-boxes, DVD players and recorders, personal video recorders (PVRs), digital cameras and camcorders and cell phones. Systems incorporating Sand Video's Compression Advantage(TM) multi-standard compression chip products will have superior image quality, storage capacity and system performance as compared with systems based on the existing MPEG-2 standard.

"We've seen increasing demand from our customers for support of Windows Media 9 Series," said Don Shulsinger, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Sand Video. "By incorporating WM9S, we expand our market opportunity and give our customers the ability to support all the major video compression formats."

"We're excited to be working with innovative companies like Sand Video, with its industry experience in high definition and video compression, to deliver Windows Media 9 Series on its Compression Advantage product line," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "Sand Video's customers will be able to enjoy the benefits of Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series, and enable exciting new features and scenarios for consumer devices."

Sand Video's Compression Advantage(TM) Architecture

Sand Video's Compression Advantage(TM) architecture enables the industry's first and only multi-format advanced video compression chip products that support video formats ranging from QCIF (176x120) up to and including full high definition (720p & 1080i). With support for AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2, along with today's announcement to add support for Windows Media 9 Series, Sand Video is setting the standard for silicon based video compression solutions. Sand Video's family of products include the SV-D011 chip, the first and only chip available that supports real time high definition AVC/H.264 video decompression, and the SV-IP01 high definition decoder core and the SV-IP01LP low power decoder core which are designed to allow OEMs to incorporate Sand Video's advanced video decompression technology into their own highly integrated SOC products. Additionally, Sand Video is on schedule to deliver samples of its silicon based full codec chip, the SV-C011, in early 2004.

About Sand Video, Inc.: Sand Video is a fabless semiconductor manufacturer focused on developing and marketing superior next generation, standards-based semiconductor video compression technology for a broad range of video applications. Sand Video is a privately held, venture-backed company based in Andover, Mass. For more information on Sand Video, visit www.sandvideo.com.

All trade names, trademarks, and/or service marks appearing herein are owned by their respective holders.

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