On2 Technologies Launches VP6 NSV Encoder

On2 Technologies, Inc., The Duck Corporation, has announced that it will begin to market a VP6.2/aacPlus encoding tool for America Online's NSV file format.

Coding Technologies will provide the aacPlus v2 audio codec for the application. The encoding tool will be available at www.on2.com. The tool will be provided as a Microsoft Windows only based plug-in for Adobe Premiere, as well as applications that support QuickTime export components such as Discreet Cleaner XL or QuickTime Pro for Windows.

America Online is the world's largest interactive services company and leading streamer of audio and video content to consumers (iBroadcast Stream Report, AccuStream iMedia Research, December 6, 2004). AOL programs a broad range of content in the NSV format including premiere original and third party offerings in News, Sports, Music, Movies and much more. Streaming content is available through the AOL Media Player, the popular Video@AOL and Radio@AOL services as well as on the Web through Radio@Netscape and the Winamp media player.

"AOL continues to offer exceptional audio and video content for consumers, and it is an ideal time to make the encoder for these products broadly available. It is On2's goal to get this encoding tool in the hands of as many content providers as possible," said Douglas A. McIntyre, On2 Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "VP6.2 and aacPlus allow this encoding tool to provide the highest quality audio and video compression available on the market today," he added.

"As we cross the threshold of more than 50% of all homes accessing the Internet with a broadband connection, consumers' appetite for streaming content is exploding," said Scott Brown, Director of Media Systems Development for America Online, Inc. "We are pleased to work with On2 to ensure that our partners have the ability to provide their content in NSV to enable the best audio and video experience for our consumers."

MPEG-4 aacPlus is AAC coupled with Coding Technologies' SBR (Spectral Band Replication) and Parametric Stereo technologies. SBR is a unique bandwidth extension technique, which enables audio codecs to deliver the same quality at half the bit rate. Parametric Stereo enhances the codec efficiency a second time for low-bit-rate stereo signals. Both SBR and Parametric Stereo are backward and forward compatible methods to enhance the efficiency of any audio codec. As a result, aacPlus delivers streaming and downloadable 5.1 multichannel audio at 128 Kbps, near CD-quality stereo at 32 Kbps, excellent quality stereo at 24 Kbps, and great quality for mixed content down to 16 Kbps and below. This level of efficiency fundamentally enables new applications in the markets of mobile and digital broadcast.

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