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When you go buy a DVD-Audio (DVD-A) disc in future, it'll be encoded using the Advanced Audio Codec (AAC), which Apple uses to encode its iTunes Music Store tracks. The Register reports that although AAC got the virtual green light last March, formal approval had to wait the decision of the DVD Forum's Steering Committee. AAC is a subset of MPEG-4, itself based upon Apple's QuickTime file format. However, this version is known as High Efficiency (HE) AAC, which provides much better performance than standard AAC encoding. 5:1 sound is @ 128kbps, while the sample rate of AAC HE is 96khz. The Forum also approved the standard for High-Definition DVD (HD-DVD). Analysis The latter employs MS's Windows Media Video technology, as found in version 9. This will be MS's competitor to Blue Ray, which stores much more data on a DVD disc. There's no doubt that DVD-A will take off and ultimately replace audio CDs. The question is how long HD-DVD will take to become 'consumer', given many consumers haven't purchased DVD players yet. Meanwhile, the VCR is 'officially' dead, but, in reality, not quite yet. The implications of WMV in HD-DVD are potentially lucrative for MS, as it could conceivably control the format, licensing, development and copy protection. But then again, everyone thought Quadraphonic was going to take off. Remember? On the DVD-A front, it's long been rumored - and we think correctly - that Apple will ultimately introduce DVD-A into iTunes. That's much more likely now. Maybe even as soon as v. 5.0. And, while we're on this, does it ever occur to you that Gates' and Jobs' companies are still dominating the industry in so many areas?
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