AP Touts Windows Media 9 Compression with SNAPfeed

At NAB2003, the Associated Press and Microsoft highlighted SNAPfeed, a software application developed by AP's Broadcast Technology group that allows journalists to transmit news feeds from remote locations using Windows Media 9.

SNAPfeed takes the Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series encoder and Windows Media Video 9 and integrates them as an add-on application to AP's ENPS (Electronic News Production System). Intended for reporters working in the field, SNAPfeed provides control of content with a quality that the company says is better than many conventional MPEG-based store and forward systems.

In the SNAPfeed application, AP-developed technology is layered on top of Windows Media 9 Series codecs and is able to simplify video encoding and transmission for field reporters using a Windows XP-based laptop, the company said. The SNAPfeed laptop can then be connected to a companion SNAPfeed server through standard dial-up phone lines. The SNAPfeed technology takes into account the available bandwidth, deadline, video resolution, duration and quality of the video, and optimizes compression and transmission accordingly.