Flash Player 9 Update 3, codename "Moviestar"

The 8/21 beta release of Flash Player 9 Update 3, codename “Moviestar”, on Adobe Labs contains new improvements for media, including support for H.264 video and HE-AAC audio and hardware accelerated, multi-core full screen video playback.

Q: What is H.264?
A:H.264 is the next-generation video compression technology in the MPEG-4 standard, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 (ISO/IEC 14496-10). H.264 delivers excellent video quality across the entire bandwidth spectrum — from 3G (Mobile phones) to HD (Broadcast) and everything in between. H.264 is now mandatory for the HD-DVD and Blu-ray specifications (the two formats for high-definition DVDs) and ratified in the latest versions of the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasters) and 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards. Numerous broadcast, cable, videoconferencing and consumer electronics companies consider H.264 the video codec of choice for their new products and services, including Apple, Sony, Nokia, SanDisk, Palm, Blackberry and even Microsoft.

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