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HD Video Comes To Adobe's Flash

Adobe, the software maker behind Acrobat and the Flash video player, is set to announce the integration of a standard format for high-def video in its latest version of Flash. The H.264 video format is the same one deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD video players, as well as satellite and cable set-top boxes. The new version of Flash containing the high-def format is being released today, although the changes in video quality will only become detectable as video producers encode their videos with the new format.

Flash isn't the first video player to integrate H.264, but it's the most popular, allowing videos to be played directly in the browser instead of opening a new page. Some 98% of desktop computers contain Flash, while hundreds of millions more carry the software on portable devices. Because of this, sites like YouTube, ABC.com and NBC.com favor it over other video players. Apple has also added H.264 to support QuickTime, while Microsoft (of course) has its proprietary HD standard, Windows Media VC-9.

Read the whole story at New York Times Blog »

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