Sonic Teams Up With Microsoft On Professional VC-1 Encoding

At NAB Sonic Solutions announced an agreement to deploy Microsoft's advanced VC-1 encoding technology, known as the PEP Encoder, in the professional high-definition title creation industry.
Already used by studios to prepare video assets for a significant number of HD DVD titles, the all-new version of the PEP Encoder, re-branded as Sonic CineVision PSE (Parallel Stream Encoder), is being released worldwide and supported by Sonic.
Ideal for enterprise-level authoring facilities with large processing infrastructures, CineVision PSE is a best-of-breed VC-1 encoding platform that provides an unprecedented level of fine-parameter and pre-processing controls to tackle the intricate high-level image quality requirements of Hollywood.
"The image quality offered by the VC-1 codec provides an unparalleled high-definition movie watching experience for consumers," said Tim Harader, senior business development manager at Microsoft Corp. "By working with a leading supplier such as Sonic, we're making the industry's most popular VC-1 encoder available to professional compressionists everywhere. Sonic is well-known in the industry for providing the right solutions and technical support required to be successful in the business of Hollywood title creation."
CineVision PSE is a scalable software encoding solution that can be deployed across a connected array of parallel processing computing systems. Depending on the configuration, CineVision PSE may be used to encode multiple simultaneous streams of the highest quality VC-1 delivered in near real-time. The application features segment-based re-encoding, support for ISAN and Ad-ID metadata, and a graphical bit-stream player for viewing the quality of an encoded file.
"Sonic remains committed to providing the Hollywood content creation community with the crucial technology it needs to be successful in the dynamic and evolving HD environment," said Rolf Hartley, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sonic's Professional Products Group.
"By collaborating with Microsoft, Sonic is able to leverage its vast expertise to deliver the best enterprise VC-1 encoding solution possible. CineVision PSE provides ultra high-end capabilities for professional facilities demanding the best possible quality and control when encoding VC-1 and is an important, world-class addition to our CineVision product range."
VC-1 is a video codec standard that offers very high image quality with excellent compression efficiency. VC-1 has been adopted by both the DVD Forum and Blu-ray Disc (BD) Association as one of the mandatory codecs for next-generation high-definition formats.
For further information on Sonic Solutions visit the website: www.sonic.com
(SP)