<font color='#000080'>OK, this is particularly huge as it indicates that Microsoft has finally taken a huge step closer to rooting itself (officially) in the HD-DVD playing field. The DVD Forum Steering Committee met on February 25-26 in Tokyo, Japan and voted on a series of important meeting resolutions involving the new HD-DVD spec. The WM9 approval is worded as follows:
Provisional approval of MPEG2, WM9 (VC-9) and MPEG4 AVC(H.264) Video CODECs as mandatory for the HD DVD Video specification for playback devices, subject to (a) an update in 60 days regarding licensing terms and conditions, (b) a presentation by each of the respective licensing bodies at the next SC meeting and © possible elimination of any of the above CODECs at the next SC meeting.
What I get from this is that they are acknowledging the potential good fit of Windows Media 9's codec - so much so that they have provisionally adopted it into the mandatory spec for HD-DVD. This is not a drill, and Microsoft should be pleased that its codec is listed right beside the likes of MPEG2 and MPEG4. Will this have an effect on seeing WM9 formatted content sooner, rather than later? We have no idea, and are just as eager as you to watch and see how this develops.
[Edit: added links below]
News.com Article
DVD Forum 25th Steering Committee Resolutions</font>