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LOS ANGELES--RealNetworks is taking another step forward in the streaming media race with the release of its RealVideo 9 codec. Version 9 is said to be 30 percent more efficient than Version 8 and can deliver viewable video over a standard (56 kilobits per second) dial-up connection.

With the new efficiency in video compression, users can deliver better quality video at the same bit rates they use now, or get a 30 percent savings in bandwidth while maintaining the same level of quality. RealNetworks claims that content creators can deliver VHS-quality video over a 160-kbps broadband connection and DVD quality at 500 kbps. The company announced the new technology at the Internet World/Streaming Media West conference here this week.

Retaining Dial-Up

More important, the capability to stream video to dial-up users (a large segment of the Internet population) allows a company to deliver its message to a wider audience.

"Most people on a 56K [kbps] connection walk away from doing video," says Kevin Foreman, a general manager in the RealNetworks systems group. "Now you'll have watchable video at 33K to 44K range. People will stay on longer."

Companies with clogged WAN connections and with dial-up remote users can also benefit from the new codec, Foreman adds, since they can more efficiently use their limited bandwidth to stream corporate communications and sales training.

For high-end users, RealNetworks has added support for the HDTV format and now permits delivery of video to interlaced video devices such TiVo and Sony PlayStation--two devices that have pledged to add RealMedia support. In a separate announcement, RealNetworks launched RealAudio Surround, which can deliver up to six channels of surround sound at 44 kbps.

RealVideo 9 is backward-compatible with previous releases of RealNetworks' client and server products. Users with a RealOne or RealPlayer client will be prompted to download the new codec the first time they encounter a RealVideo 9-encoded stream. Content providers can use existing servers to deliver content encoded with the new codec.

Watch the Competition

RealNetworks is in heavy competition with Microsoft's Windows Media and Apple's QuickTime for streaming media supremacy. All three companies use proprietary formats for compressing audio and video. Foreman says RealNetworks will submit RealVideo 9 to the group overseeing the next version of the MPEG 4 in an effort to make RealMedia more of a standard in the industry. The company's goal is to encourage more-interoperable hardware and to drive down the cost of creating streaming media while still allowing RealNetworks to control a large piece of the market.

Microsoft is continuing to push its own video strategy, this week releasing more information about its upcoming Corona video engine and new codecs. Microsoft has drawn the support of two leading graphics card makers, which plan to build support for Corona into future products. Typically, the cards support several competing video formats, including RealNetworks.

Foreman says RealNetworks has taken a different approach with this release of its codec. Instead of springing a new release on the public and waiting for tools and service providers to adopt the technology, RealNetworks has worked with clients and partners to have RealVideo 9-enabled tools and content ready for use today. Tool vendors Discreet and AnyStream--and service providers such as Akamai Technologies and AT&T--currently; support the new format.

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