ITU: NEW STANDARDS AGREED FOR HD DISC SPEC AND DVD AUDIO.(International Telecommunication Union)

The governing body behind the DVD specification has provisionally approved the incorporation of Microsoft's Windows Media 9 technology as a "mandatory" component of HD DVD. The DVD Forum said it has granted "provisional approval of MPEG 2, Microsoft-developed Windows Media 9 and H.264 as mandatory for the upcoming High Definition (HD) DVD video specification".

So potentially Microsoft will take a cut from all future HD DVD players sold, in addition to what it makes out of the sale of all those PCs. Actually, since Intel and Microsoft believe future DVD players will be PCs in all but name, this may not make such a difference. Certainly, Microsoft's HD codec requires some hefty processing resources to run at a frame rate suitable for consumer electronics use. But...

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