Thomson Releases MP3 Surround 283
Anonymous Howard writes "Thomson has released MP3 Surround, a new MP3 codec. They claim that MP3 Surround supports high-quality multi-channel sound at bit rates comparable to those currently used to encode stereo MP3 material, resulting in files half the size of common compressed surround formats while maintaining backwards compatibility. Wasn't MP3 Pro supposed to be a great new MP3 codec, but never took off? I wonder if this is going to go the same route. Does anyone have a technical view of MP3 Surround? Does it have potential?"
No (Score:3, Insightful)
I mean, theres terabytes out there in mp3 format, and it'd be too much hassle for everyone who has encoded their personal collection to this new mp3 format.
It could take off, but unlikley. If it does, there will be a mix of the two formats, traditional mp3, and this new type.
It could be used in games. (Score:5, Insightful)
Screw Potential! (Score:5, Insightful)
Surround (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh Joy. (Score:5, Insightful)
But... what music is in surround? Probably that long hair stuff conducted by some symphony orchestra. Certainly not The Beatles ... unless yetanother version of remastered classics come out.
Screw it. I'll just go downtown and listen to some live music.
Realistically... the average Joe doesn't care (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Once again.... (Score:5, Insightful)
What evidence do you have of this? MPEG-4 sure isn't backwards compatible. AAC/WMA isn't backwards compatible, yet all of them are catching on.
Splitting infinitives is a crime punishably by a $500 fine, up to 3 days in jail, or both.
MP3 should be left alone (Score:5, Insightful)
This is like trying to "improve" a car that's 30 years old when instead you could just have a modern car that doesn't need to be improved. Might be a fun hobby, but doesn't make sense as business idea.
Re:Screw Potential! (Score:2, Insightful)
I will be using Longhorn, DRM wont stop me from using it. I'll just use mp3 with longhorn. Longhorn like XP will tream DRM on DRM'ed media the same now as with 98/2K/XP.
Just dont buy DRM'ed content.
Also, MP3 Surround could take over AC3 tracks on DIVX CD's for space reasons. That might a very useful.
Good idea, bad codec (Score:3, Insightful)
MP4 would have been a better choice, if an MP* algorithm had to be used, but I would have thought that broadcast-quality codecs would have made more sense.
mp3PRO - your opinion (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:MP3 is dead, right? (Score:4, Insightful)
MP3Pro vs MP3 Surround (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No (Score:4, Insightful)
You see, Thomson sells stuff under 4 brand names: consumer electronics are sold under Thomson (mainly in Europe) and RCA, and content production products under Technicolor and Grass Valley (a big name in TV production equipment). One of the areas they're particularly strong is Digital Video Servers, most of which are MPEG based. One of the big limitations on what you can do with those servers, especially when you're dealing with HD, is the bandwidth of the storage media. Anything that reduces the amount of bandwidth any given feature requires is good stuff. So this is a very useful technology for Thomson, and of course it will be a must have for anyone wanting to communicate with Thomson/Grass Valley video servers (which would be anyone in professional video production).
It may or may not take off in the consumer market, but rest assured it will do just fine in the pro market.
Re:Oh Joy. (Score:3, Insightful)
OK, so you're a Beatles fan and this may not be your thing. I could be wrong of course, I'm a Beatles fan...
Submarine Patent (Score:2, Insightful)
iPod (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:MP3 is dead, right? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:MP3 is dead, right? (Score:1, Insightful)
I personally found wasting an entire comment to bitch at him more distracting from Slashdot than anyone's sig.