Paris, France (February 19, 2000) -- Sonic Solutions announced today at the Audio Engineering Society Convention (AES) in Paris the world’s first integrated production system for preparing, encoding, authoring, and formatting content for use in DVD-Audio mastering using Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP), a required format for DVD-Audio titles.

MLP, which was developed by Meridian Audio, allows more than 74 minutes of a six-channel, 24-bit, 96kHz audio stream to fit onto a single-layer, single-sided DVD-Audio disc and guarantees a decoded output that is bit-for-bit identical with the original stream. The disc space saved can be used to deliver additional content such as motion video or audio content. Tight integration of MLP encoding with the Sonic DVD-Audio authoring system provides audio mastering professionals with an efficient workflow when creating DVD-Audio titles.

"Our collaboration with Sonic will allow our users to create new kinds of audio and video entertainment that have not been possible on any previous consumer format," said Robert Stuart, Chairman of Meridian Audio. "The new creative options made possible by DVD-Audio and MLP can now be realized with Sonic’s integrated DVD-Audio authoring system."

"We are extremely pleased that Sonic and Meridian Audio have collaborated to implement MLP encoding into Sonic’s DVD-Audio authoring system," said Bike H. Suzuki, Victor Company of Japan, Chairman of Working Group 4 of the the DVD-Forum. "Sonic has been and will be a key promoter in the launch of DVD-Audio and provides much of the core technology needed for the success of the format. Their recent development efforts with MLP will dramatically encourage content providers to begin producing new titles for DVD-Audio."

The new Sonic-integrated MLP encoder takes EDLs (edit decision lists) from SonicStudio HD, Sonic’s next-generation professional audio workstation, and encodes them to DVD-Audio elementary streams which are used for authoring DVD-Audio titles. The Sonic integrated MLP encoder also allows mastering engineers to specify stereo mixdown coefficients so that multi-channel content can be accurately reproduced in stereo environments.

"As the premier provider of digital audio workstations and DVD-production systems, Sonic understands that mastering content for DVD-Audio requires interactively editing and processing multiple audio and video assets," said Yuki Miyamoto, Product Marketing Manager for New Audio Formats at Sonic Solutions. "By integrating MLP encoding into our DVD authoring systems, we will enable mastering engineers to work more efficiently and creatively."

About DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio is the new audio format that builds on the success of the hugely popular DVD-Video format. More than two years in the making, DVD-Audio is the result of close collaboration among major recording companies, consumer electronics manufacturers and technology suppliers. The format incorporates breathtakingly accurate audio reproduction by supporting sampling rates of 96kHz and 192kHz with up to 24 bits of information per sample (compared to the CD standard of 44.1kHz and 16 bits per sample).

With DVD-Audio, full-resolution audio can be presented in stereo or in any channel combination up to six-channel surround. Audio programs can be accessed interactively and presented along with visual material including menus, slides, and text. Because of the enormous bandwidths involved in high-resolution audio, DVD-Audio incorporates an innovative coding scheme developed by Meridian Audio, called Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP). With MLP it is possible to use full-resolution, 24-bit, 96kHz audio on all six channels of a surround presentation even though the overall bandwidth of the original master tracks would exceed the bandwidth available in a standard DVD disc. DVD-Audio permits incorporation of video as well, including many of the features that have made DVD-Video such a runaway success.

About DVD Creator AV and SonicStudio HD
Sonic Solutions has created the industry's first and only DVD-Audio production system, Sonic DVD Creator AV, which includes SonicStudio HD, Sonic's system for high-density audio production and Sonic's DVD Producer for authoring DVD-Audio and DVD-Video titles. SonicStudio HD is built upon the innovative new HDSP™ Processing Architecture and supports editing and mixing of multi-channel audio at sample rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz. DVD Creator allows authoring of DVD-Audio titles with real-time preview of all the elements in a DVD-Audio title – multi-channel high-resolution audio, menus, slide shows and video.

About MLP
MLP was selected as one of the mandatory stream formats for DVD-Audio by the DVD Forum because of its superior compression and peak data-rate performance. The MLP process uses a number of proprietary technologies to reduce the data rate. Lossless processing and lossless matrixing are used to reduce the correlation between channels. Lossless waveform prediction is used to reduce the inter-sample correlation, with a very large palette of special filters. And entropy coding is used to reduce the data rate by efficiently encoding the most likely occurring successive values in the serial stream.

This combination of methods has been designed to ensure not only a very good compression ratio, but also to ensure the all-important issue of holding down peak data rate. Lossless coding produces a variable rate of output data, and it is necessary to keep the peaks low enough for use on carriers. MLP also uses a proprietary data buffering scheme to smooth the data rate. A very powerful feature of MLP allows the authoring system to embed a bit-accurate two-channel downmix to ensure great sound on 2-channel players. MLP is licensed by Dolby Corporation.

About Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC)
Based in Marin County, California, Sonic Solutions designs and manufactures DVD publishing systems used by video, audio and multimedia professionals around the world to prepare music, video, film, graphics and entertainment software. Sonic DVD Creator is the leading system for producing content for the DVD format, and has been used to create thousands of DVD titles worldwide, for applications ranging from feature film releases to corporate and industrial titles. Sonic also offers SonicStudio HD, the leading digital audio workstation used by audio professionals to prepare recorded sound for release on DVD and CD, as well as for film and video soundtracks and broadcast. Sonic is a leader in advancing DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technology and is a full voting-member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format.

About Meridian Audio
Based in Cambridge, England, Meridian Audio is well known as a manufacturer of very high performance consumer audio equipment. Meridian has specialized in advanced digital audio applications including DSP-assisted loudspeakers, controllers, processors and also in CD and DVD players.

Meridian has been proud to represent the needs of high performance audio within the DVD Forum and to provide the key technology in MLP. Meridian can be found on the web at: http://www.meridian-audio.com.