Sonic Unveils News Products for HD and DVD
September 10, 2004
Marin County, CA - Sonic Solutions announced availability of new software versions and products for its leading professional DVD creation systems – the SD-series Encoder 3.1, Sonic eDVD 3, DVD Producer 4.5, and the all new DVD Producer HD Workstation.
New software and products from Sonic include the following:
SD-series Encoder 3.1 – Available for Windows, Sonic’s SD-1000 and SD-2000 encoders are well known for delivering cinematic-quality MPEG video with the greatest ease and reliability, the company described. The new version of software features wild encoding – the ability to encode from video and audio sources that cannot or need not be controlled via machine control; extended limits for VBR-style bit rate parameters – the ability to set minimum and target rates as low as 1MPS to give users greater control; and an enhanced preset data display that allows parameter settings to be available for reference when movies are open in the timeline and thereby easily allowing additional encodes to use the same parameters.
Sonic eDVD 3 – Built-on InterActual® technology, the Hollywood standard web-connection platform, eDVD 3 is a new software application that works with the majority of authoring programs in the market today and extends the interactivity of standard-DVDs by adding live web and DVD-ROM links from a menu button or a DVD’s video timeline. A “must-have” add-on for any professional DVD author, eDVD creates enhanced titles that offer the same level of compatibility on set-top players as standard DVDs as well as cross-platform playability on both Mac OSX and Windows XP-based computers.
DVD Producer 4.5 – The latest version of Sonic's award-winning DVD authoring application for creative professionals, DVD Producer 4.5 integrates a range of new capabilities and features including dual-layer (DVD-9) title production and compatibility with the new DVD+R double-layer DVD-recordable drives as well as a newly-integrated professional Dolby Digital audio software encoder. DVD Producer 4.5 is available now, and new systems featuring real-time hardware proofing have a starting retail price of $1,999.
DVD Producer HD Workstation – The world's first authoring system for creating HD titles on DVD using Microsoft’s WMV HD-DVD format, the DVD Producer HD Workstation integrates Sonic’s HD-series real-time hardware encoder with DVD Producer’s fast and flexible authoring to create a seamless workflow that allows professional authors to build interactive titles with stunning HD video content. WMV HD-DVD titles are playable using the Windows Media 10 Series player on Microsoft Windows XP computers.
Sonic also debuted its HD-Series real-time WMV high-definition encoding hardware, designed to offer the highest-quality video encoding capabilities for the next generation of DVD. The HD-series encoder provides video professionals with detailed control of Microsoft’s Windows Media High Definition Video (WMV HD) codec using Inlet Technologies’ Optimized Compression Encoding and Analytics (OCEAN) platform to create exceptional quality video and audio assets for use in WMV HD-DVDs.
Sonic’s HD-series encoder integrates Inlet Technologies’ OCEAN platform that has been specifically optimized for WMV and provides advanced compression encoding combined with comprehensive pre-processing and measurement capabilities. The result is an intelligent compression and analytics engine that delivers extremely high-quality HD content with significantly reduced file sizes. Due to the efficiency of the WMV HD codec, high-definition encoded files require only slightly increased storage space over present-day standard definition encodes.
The Sonic HD-series encoder is PCI-based computer hardware intended for integration with a host computer and hard disk storage systems. It includes the following capabilities:
•Real-time CBR and VBR video and audio encoding from HD-SDI input
•Real-time audio encoding at 20 bit 48kHz via the Sonic audio I/O interface
•Real-time audio encoding via HD-SD•VTR machine control via RS422
•ATSC 720 and 1080 progressive resolution support
The SD-1000 encoder is currently available at a suggested retail price of $11,000 and the SD-2000 encoder is available at a suggested list price of $25,000.
eDVD 3 is available through Sonic's worldwide network of value-added resellers at a U.S. suggested list price of $899.
The new HD-DVD system is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 2004.
The Sonic HD-series real-time WMV HD encoder will be offered as an add-on to the company’s well known SD-series encoding systems in Q4 of this year, as well as in stand-alone and all-in-one WMV HD-DVD creation workstation configurations.
For more information, visit
www.sonic.com
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