Microsoft, SRS team up on surround sound for Silverlight, will this finally bring 5.1 to Netflix?

Of course, this press release from SRS Labs doesn't actually say Netflix will use its technology to enable surround sound audio on Watch Instantly streams, but when you claim your tools add "easy and seamless" surround sound decoding to Silverlight apps then we have an immediate suggestion as to how they could be put to use. Whether you give any credit to (or have even noticed) the SRS stamp on a bevy of media playing software and hardware, its ubiquity certainly means that interested parties (like, say, Netflix) could be sure the audio would be supported across the multitude of platforms they stream video to. Microsoft and SRS have issued the tools for anyone (even Netflix) to support 5.1 streams just by adding this code to their apps and are demonstrating it at IBC 2010 and on a demo website, all we have to do is sit back and wait for the technology to be implemented. If only we knew of somewhere an upgrade to surround sound on streaming video was in high demand...

Show full PR text

SRS FIRST TO COUPLE 5.1 SURROUND SOUND TO MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT AND IIS SMOOTH STREAMING ECOSYSTEMS WITH A COMPLETE TOOLKIT

SRS 5.1 Empowers Content Creators to Enhance Multimedia with Surround Sound Encoding That's Playable Across TVs, PCs and Mobile Devices
SANTA ANA, Calif., September 9, 2010 - SRS Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRSL), the industry leader in surround sound, audio and voice technologies, announced today that it is making available complete SRS surround sound encoding and decoding technology to users of Microsoft Silverlight, a powerful development platform for creating rich media and business applications for the Web, desktop and mobile devices.
"This is an exciting moment for SRS and we're thrilled to expand this collaboration with Microsoft to now bring surround sound capability to Silverlight and its millions of users," said Allen H. Gharapetian, Vice President of Marketing for SRS Labs. "Every day, more and more consumers are streaming TV shows and movies over the Web to their PCs, TVs, and mobile phones, and now, with the availability of SRS 5.1 surround for Silverlight, the collective online multimedia experience will become more vivid and immersive."
Microsoft and SRS' collaboration dates back to May 2000 when SRS WOW became a standard feature within Windows Media Player. Today, as part of a larger effort to deliver immersive surround sound to the rapidly growing number of consumers streaming content to their PCs, TVs and mobile phones, SRS has advanced the streaming multimedia experience to the next level by coupling its SRS 5.1 technology with a complete Microsoft-centric toolkit that effortlessly adds bit efficient, exceptional quality surround sound to content created in Silverlight.
SRS 5.1 is designed to provide content creators with the tools to create and deliver true, high-quality streamed surround sound encoded content across the three-screens, TVs, PCs and mobile devices. SRS 5.1 is the only surround format available now in Microsoft Silverlight that is coupled with a complete toolkit. This SRS package functions as a managed code add-on for content creators and developers making surround sound decoding in Silverlight applications easy and seamless. Because millions of TVs, A/V receivers, PCs and mobile phones today feature one or more SRS audio solutions such as Circle Surround, TheaterSound, StudioSound HD, and TruSurround, every one of these CE devices are natively equipped with the capability to decode SRS 5.1 surround encoded content, resulting in a "surround everywhere" entertainment experience.
Some of the other major benefits of these encoding and decoding solutions include:
Multichannel and front-rendered surround sound
Smooth steering and full bandwidth for a seamless and immersive surround environment
Backwards compatibility with legacy matrix decoders and stereo
Surround streaming over bit rates as low as 96kbps
Since the release of Silverlight in 2007, its adoption has continued at a rapid pace with installations approaching 60 percent on all Internet-connected devices worldwide, an increase of nearly 15 percentage points in just four months. Now with inclusion of SRS 5.1 surround for content created in Silverlight, any PC or connected flat panel TV can decode SRS 5.1 audio for true multi-channel or front-rendered surround.SRS 5.1 effectively provides a top-quality, format agnostic, easy to deploy and manage end-to-end surround sound technology for content creation, transmission and consumption.
"Multichannel audio takes the premium media experiences offered by Silverlight to the next level," said Brad Becker, director of Rich Client Platforms at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft is pleased to see SRS bring its surround sound technology to Silverlight's hundreds of millions of users by taking advantage of the powerful extensibility and interoperability that Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming provide."
The tools and white paper for SRS 5.1 content creation with Silverlight are available now at www.srslabs.com/Silverlight. Meanwhile, a demonstration of SRS 5.1 will be available at IBC in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from September 10th to 14th at the Microsoft stand located in the Topaz Lounge.

About SRS Labs, Inc.
Founded in 1993, SRS Labs is the industry leader in audio signal processing for consumer electronics. Beginning with the audio technologies originally developed at Hughes Aircraft, SRS Labs holds over 150worldwide patents and is recognized by the industry as the foremost authority in research and application of audio post processing technologies based on the human auditory principles. Through partnerships with leading global CE companies, semiconductor manufacturers and software partners, SRS is recognized as the de facto standard in audio enhancement, surround sound, volume leveling and voice processing technologies. SRS solutions have been included in over one billion electronic products sold worldwide including flat panel HDTVs, STBs, mobile phones, portable media devices, PCs and automotive entertainment. SRS Labs supports its partners around the globe with a network of offices in regions including the U.S., China, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, visit www.srslabs.com. Visit SRS Labs' blog at soundingoff.srslabs.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/srslabs or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/srslabs.

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release, including those by Mr. Gharapetian, may constitute forward-looking statements regarding our assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the Company's goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect the Company's actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Some of these factors include the acceptance of new SRS Labs' products and technologies, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions, especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in the Company's Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. SRS Labs specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

###