Microsoft to slip audio format into DVD chips

Aiming to push its Windows Media technology deeper into consumer electronics, Microsoft plans to announce Tuesday that the audio and video formats soon will be supported by several DVD chipmakers.

The move will pave the way for DVD players that can play back 22 hours of music from a single CD.

Microsoft said that, over the next year, chipmakers Cirrus Logic, ESS Technology, LSI Logic, STMicroelectronics and Zoran will add support for Windows Media audio and video. Those chipmakers represent 90 percent of the DVD processors manufactured and shipped last year.

"The availability of chips supporting top-quality Windows Media audio and video will enable us to offer enticing new home-entertainment experiences to consumers," Tom McLoughlin, president of audio and video products manufacturer Harman Kardon, said in a statement.

Microsoft plans to make the announcement at the Streaming Media East 2001 trade show in New York.

This "announcement lays the groundwork for the next generation of DVD players to appear next year, which merge the world of digital media on the PC with home entertainment systems in the living room," Microsoft said in a statement.

"This will enable not just playback of CD-burned collections of digital music but also the eventual playback of video entertainment using Windows Media Video from CDs."