[The MPEG-4 aacPlus standard promises to bring CD quality audo to low power devices according to Panasonic, NEC and Coding Technologies. ]

Mountain View and Tokyo -- Coding Technologies, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic) and NEC announced today that the three companies have introduced a new low-power decoder version for the upcoming MPEG-4 AAC-plus-SBR (aacPlus) standard, which achieves CD-quality audio at low bitrates. Requiring 40% less processing power, this low-power SBR decoding method is officially recognized by MPEG and is bitstream compliant with the MPEG-4 aacPlus standard. The availability of both low-power and high-quality MPEG-4 aacPlus implementations enables the standard to run on the widest possible range of processors for mobile and portable device applications. Such a range is critical in the adoption of MPEG-4 aacPlus in 2.5G and 3G audio distribution markets.

"The work of Panasonic, NEC and Coding Technologies has significantly increased the reach of aacPlus," said Martin Dietz, President and CEO of Coding Technologies. "Although processor power is increasing rapidly, power consumption is still a key factor in mobile markets. The efficiency afforded by low-power aacPlus will give an early boost to the new standard."

"Since it works with any codec, we see SBR as a very important technology going forward," said Hiroshi Nishikawa, Director, Multimedia Development Center, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. "Since this decoder implementation of SBR requires less computational resources, the MPEG-4 standard can be deployed on more entertainment services including digital broadcasting."

"The mobile market relies on open standards," said Dr. Takao Nishitani, General Manager, Multimedia Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation. "Low-power is always the key to mobile and portable device markets. This low-power SBR standard paves the way for these markets such as network audio distribution, digital broadcasting services, and silicon players.

Technology and intellectual property for low-power SBR was contributed by all three companies. Coding Technologies is the licensing agent for low-power SBR in aacPlus, creating a onestop-shop for SBR patents and software in MPEG-4.

aacPlus is the combination of MPEG AAC and Coding Technologies' SBR (Spectral Band Replication) technology. SBR is a unique bandwidth extension technique, which enables audio codecs to deliver the same quality at half the bit rate. SBR is a backward and forward compatible method to enhance the efficiency of any audio codec; putting the "PRO" in mp3PRO and the "Plus" in aacPlus. As a result, aacPlus delivers streaming and download CD-quality stereo at 48 kbps and excellent quality stereo at 32 kbps. This level of efficiency fundamentally enables new applications in the markets of mobile and digital broadcast. aacPlus is on track to become a core component of MPEG-4 Audio.

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