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Microsoft Silverlight 3 Promises Simpler, Faster, and Better High Def Streaming

Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 11:30 AM ET
Tags: HD Streaming, Microsoft, Silverlight, Industry Trends (all tags)

And a boost for online video providers, finally able to offer true 720p

Microsoft unleashed the full version of Silverlight 3, the most recent edition of their Flash like application, on July 9th, and the internet is abuzz with the possibilities. Before we get into the nitty gritty of the exciting niche applications, here’s the big news: full 720p playback. Sure it’s almost certainly at a bit rate far below that of Blu-ray and almost certainly behind most TV channels, but it’s a good start.

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Users will have a much more fluid experience with the aptly named “Smooth Streaming”, which will act to ensure an absence of stutters and loading times by making smart use of buffering. Also exciting are the possibilities of using Silverlight outside of the browser. Having a Netflix application for example, rather than logging on to a website, could be a very big deal in the future.

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