On2 Technologies Helps Provide High Quality Video for Skype
On2 Technologies, a leader in video compression solutions, announced that a new version of its TrueMotion VP7 video compression is used in Skype 3.6 for Windows to help deliver High Quality Video calling to Skype users.
Skype 3.6 for Windows can be downloaded from www.skype.com. The VP7 update helps Skype users experience sharper and smoother video calls in a bigger call window. The updated video technology needs significantly lower bandwidth and processing power than is normally required for comparable video quality.
"Skype has already helped fuel the incredible popularity of free video calls over the Internet,' said Jonathan Christensen, Skype's general manager for audio and video. "The new VP7 update, along with extensive optimization work by engineering teams at Skype and Logitech, has moved the bar even higher. It has done so within processor and bandwidth constraints that make this quality available to a broad group of people."
Skype has used On2's award-winning VP7 video compression since 2005. VP7 technology is designed to provide superb video at very low data rates and perform efficiently on low-power processors. The new VP7 update is specifically designed for video conferencing, using optimizations targeted at stable camera video and processor scalability.
"In conjunction with Skype and partner Logitech, we have been able to optimize VP7 to achieve video-quality improvements while maintaining tremendous bandwidth efficiency," said Bill Joll, president and CEO of On2 Technologies. "These are remarkable results for video conferencing. Users will find that they can get lifelike High Quality Video at 384 kbps, a fraction of the bandwidth of most broadband connections."
Skype has 246 million users, and about 25 percent of all Skype-to-Skype calls involve at least one video participant.
