BEIJING, and NEW YORK, Nov 18, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via Comtex/ -- Beijing E-World and On2 Technologies, Inc. (ONT) today announced that On2's VP5 and VP6 video codecs are included in the People's Republic of China industrial standard for the new Enhanced Versatile Disk (EVD). EVD is a next-generation media technology developed by Beijing E-world to become the standard for the recording and playback of digital video, audio, and data within the People's Republic of China.
The recommended video compression algorithm portion of the standard includes only the On2 codecs, making VP5 and VP6 the official video compression technology to be used in future versions of the EVD in the People's Republic of China.
On2's compression technology will enable truly high-definition (HD) movies to fit on a single EVD disk, a feat not possible with current DVD encoding standards.
The working group of the EVD standard submitted the final standard to the Chinese Ministry of Information Industries and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) in a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing today. The ceremony was attended by government officials from the People's Republic of China, members of Beijing E-world's board, and Mike Kopetski, a member of On2's board of directors. Douglas A. McIntyre, On2's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, also attended.
The SAC is responsible for disseminating standards documents so manufacturers can build their products in accordance with the standards. In addition to VP5 and VP6, the EVD standard also includes certain hardware guidelines and the Beijing E-world audio codec.
"We are very pleased that our relationship with On2 has reached this important milestone, which will allow manufacturers to use VP5 and VP6 in EVD products," said Haochieh, President of Beijing E-world.
"The EVD is a major step forward in multimedia distribution technology, and we're delighted that the Ministry of Information Industries has invited us here to participate in the announcement ceremony. Today marks the official beginning of the relationship that was outlined in our contracts with Beijing E-world earlier this year. I look forward to the mutual success of both companies in this venture," said Douglas A. McIntyre, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of On2.