Windows Media Video High Definition is a software technology by Microsoft which makes it possible to watch high definition movies in 1280Ã?720 (720p) or 1920Ã?1080 (1080p) resolution. WMV-HD is not a newly developed codec, but merely an extension to the normal Windows Media Video codec to support HDTV resolutions. WMV-HD conform videos feature a 5.1 surround soundtrack, which is encoded in Windows Media Audio.

Currently Apple Computer plans to leverage the H.264 codec to offer an alternative to WMVHD.

Microsoft claims that the H.264 codec, also called advanced MPEG4 is older and not as high quality as their codec, which is now also called VC-1. The ability for Microsoft to control the format would allow them to replace MPEG2 and sell royalties for decoding chips as well as DVDs, though for the time, they claim to allow free distribution of discs. As Internet Explorer did ages ago, it potentially could help them sell more copies of Windows or more of the Xbox 360 consoles, which apparently will support the codec [http://www.igniq.com/2005/06/todd-holmdahl-talks-xbox-360-hardware.html]. Nine gigabyte DVDs can use the codec and encode over 3 hours of video, and the 16 gigabytes from Toshiba s HD-DVD would be sufficient for almost all videos.

Warner Bros. has been rumored to support WMV HD, as well as several other companies in a [http://www.dts-phile.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.phpt=4 forum site]. More at CNet s News.com [http://news.com.com/Microsoft+on+every+DVD/2100-1041_3-5166786.htmltag=nl].

= Movies on WMV-HD-DVD =

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