Sonic powers demonstration of advanced interactivity for HD disc formats

AT NAB 2005 Sonic Solutions and Microsoft have demonstrated iHD, developed by Microsoft and The Walt Disney Studios to deliver advanced interactivity for new HD-based disc formats.
The Sonic-developed demonstration offers NAB attendees a compelling preview of the future of high definition video entertainment, showcasing Sonic’s patented InterActual technology which enables viewers of HD video discs to experience advanced interactivity along with access to supplemental movie-synchronised content that can come from disc or the Internet.
Many of the features highlighted in the demonstration build on the same type of capabilities already supported in Sonic’s industry-leading authoring systems and workflow solutions for interactive DVDs, and are being integrated into Sonic’s systems for HD-based discs to facilitate the planned launches of next-generation formats in 2005 and 2006.
“iHD is exciting technology that provides Hollywood studios with a broad canvas to deliver enhanced features and entertainment value to consumers,” said Kevin Unangst, Director of Windows Digital Media at Microsoft. “Sonic’s authoring expertise and understanding of Hollywood’s creative and production requirements positions them perfectly to deliver the solutions that authoring facilities and studios will need to create cutting-edge iHD titles.”
The Sonic and Microsoft demonstrations are conceptual in nature and were developed in partnership with New Line Home Entertainment, a market-proven innovator of feature-rich DVD productions. New Line Home Entertainment and InterActual, a subsidiary of Sonic Solutions, have a long-standing relationship of enabling cutting-edge enhanced DVD features. The conceptual demonstrations highlight some of the advanced features possible on next-generation DVDs, including interactive menus during the film (picture in picture), bonus material integrated and synchronized with the movie, secondary video documentaries during main feature playback, advanced content navigation, and up-to-date trailers streamed from the Internet and seamlessly integrated with the playback.
(GB/KMcA)