Microsoft and STMicroelectronics have teamed up to bring us High-Definition Windows Media 9 Content on leading set-top box and DVD hardware platforms. Today announced that the two companies are working together to develop a series of new integrated circuit components for manufacturers of consumer electronics products. These components will extend the reach of high-quality, secure Windows Media 9 Series content, in both standard and high definition. Support of Windows Media 9 Series in products means we will be able to easily enjoy the high audio and video quality that Windows Media provides. I’m a huge believer in the WMV HD spec, it works with current technologies and is inexpensive to produce. I just hope it becomes the standard.

Some useful facts:
– Windows Media Audio 9, which provides playback of high-quality two-channel audio with remarkable compression efficiency
– Windows Media Audio 9 Professional, which delivers 5.1 or even 7.1 channels of discrete digital surround sound at bit rates as low as 128 kbps, and supports 24-bit resolution and 96 kHz sample rates to deliver better-than-CD quality sound
– Windows Media Video 9 (including VC-9), which delivers high video quality at all bit rates and even supports high-definition video, with up to six times the resolution of DVD-video, at approximately one-third the bit rate of MPEG-2