Features

More Control and Flexibility for Capture and Compression Scenarios

• Device Control
  Digital Video (DV) camera and Video Tape Recorder (VTR) device control gives you direct command of capture devices for both one- and two-pass encoding, with support for edit decision lists (EDLs). Time code data is captured from the original source for frame-accurate seeking. For detailed information about using device control, read Capturing and Encoding from DV Cameras Using Windows Media Encoder.
• Multichannel Audio Sourcing
  The encoder lets you capture multichannel audio in real-time, including sourcing of multichannel PCM WAV files.
• Improved Source Switching
  For greater control over live event production, the encoder features improved switching between live and pre-recorded sources.
• Live DRM
  For on-demand or live, protect your content for secure distribution by applying DRM during encoding. For more information about how to take advantage of this feature, read Using Windows Media Encoder to Protect Content.
• Push Distribution
  Access a remote server to initiate a publishing point and set up a broadcast at any time. New monitoring functions provide visual feedback of server-side statistics.
• Improved MBR
  Create the right file for any audience with MBR audio, multiple language support, and scalable video resolution for multiple video frame sizes in a single stream.
• Support for Multiple Destinations
  Optimize content for streaming or download-and-play experiences on a computer. Or extend your reach to consumer electronics—including portable devices or physical format delivery (CD, DVD).

Unmatched Audio and Video Quality

• Windows Media Audio 9
  In addition to a 20 percent compression improvement over WMA 8 for streaming audio, WMA 9 includes new support for Variable Bit Rate (VBR) audio to produce the highest fidelity at the lowest data rate.
• Windows Media Audio 9 Professional
  The first digital surround-sound codec for the Web, WMA 9 Pro captures full-resolution audio (24-bit/96 Khz sampling) for both stereo and multichannel (6+ discrete channels) delivery at 128-768 Kbps.
• Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless
  Using this new mathematically-lossless codec, content can be compressed with no loss in quality, which is perfect for archiving digital music with 2:1-3:1 compression.
• Windows Media Audio 9 Voice
  Need to encode content such as radio broadcasts, advertising, e-books, or voiceovers? This first-ever mixed-mode voice and music codec offers superior quality for low data-rate streaming (<20Kbps).
• Windows Media Video 9
  The new WMV 9 codec creates high quality video for streaming, download-and-play, and physical format delivery, with a 15-50 percent compression improvement over WMV 8 (the highest gains occur at the highest bit rates). This means that a WMV 9 file is typically only half the size of a MPEG-4 file of comparable quality.
• Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile
  Key features of Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile include improved interlaced support and transport format independence. It offers the best experience on computers running Windows Media Player 10, although it can also be used on computers running Windows Media Player 7 or later. To use this codec with Windows Media Encoder 9 Series, Windows Media Player 10 must be installed. The Advanced Profile codec will show up as an option in the encoder. Learn more.
• Broadcast Ready and Non-Square Pixel Support
  Get better TV playback with native interlace support. Non-square pixel support preserves the true resolution of DV and MPEG2 content without distortion.
• Windows Media Video 9 Screen
  Get better handling of bit-mapped images and screen motion with the improved Windows Media Video 9 Screen codec.
• Powerful Encoding Modes
  New CBR and VBR encoding, using either 1-pass or 2-pass, enables even higher quality for progressive streaming, download-and-play, or delivery to peak constrained devices (CD/DVD).

  Encoding	1-pass	2-pass
  CBR	Constant bit rate Live encoding & broadcasting Fastest encoding time	Constant bit rate On demand delivery High quality Complex scenes
  VBR	VBR quality-based Ensures constant quality level Archive content File output size unknown	Unconstrained bit rate based Average total bit rate Local playback Peak constrained bit rate based Average total bit rate with peak constrained Physical format Windows Media Server

  
  

Remote Automation, Programmability, and Extensibility

• More Extensible and Programmable
  New plug-in support enables audio and video effects using DirectShow and DMO transforms. Support for Web streaming lets you add functionality for the scalable delivery of rich media.
  Learn about the Instream plug-in for video titling for Windows Media Encoder 9 Series that is available on the Leitch Technology Corporation Web site.
• Full Automation
  An improved Windows Media Encoder SDK enables content producers to fully automate the encoding process for batch encoding.
• New Utilities, Code Samples, and Projects
  Windows Media Encoder 9 Series includes four new utilities that let you edit profiles and digital media files:
  • Windows Media Encoding Script. Use this command-line utility for batch encoding or automating routine tasks. (Formerly Windows Media Encoding Utility.)
  • Windows Media Profile Editor. Use the profile editor to create custom profiles for encoding sessions.
  • Windows Media File Editor. Use the file editor to trim the start and end points of a file; add metadata, markers, and script commands; and, for multichannel audio files, control how the files are folded down for stereo playback.
  • Windows Media Stream Editor. Use the stream editor to split or combine streams in existing Windows Media files to create files.
  The SDK includes useful code samples and sample projects such as:
  • Batch Encoding. This Visual Basic .NET sample project shows you how to encode content in batches.
  • Command Line Encoder. This VBScript sample file shows you how to configure and start an encoding session from the command line.
  • PowerPoint Add-In. This Visual Basic for Applications sample project shows you how to use HTML as a source by streaming a live PowerPoint presentation.
  • Remote Administration. This C# sample project shows you how to remotely administer encoding applications.
  • Scheduler. This C++ sample project shows how to use the task scheduling functionality in Windows to schedule encoding sessions to run at specific times.

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