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Sonic™ Announces Support for Next-generation DVD Video Recording Formats in AuthorScript® and MyDVD®

Delivers Seamless Interchange between Consumer DVD Recorders and PCs

New Orleans, Louisiana (May 8, 2003) — Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), the world leader in DVD creation applications, today announced at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC 2003) enhancements to its AuthorScript DVD/CD engine and MyDVD application to support the DVD+R/+RW Video Recording and DVD-RAM/-R/-RW VR formats – both of which are used by consumer set-top DVD recorders to make real-time recordings of personal videos and TV broadcasts. Announced in concert with Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) endorsement of all current DVD physical recording formats in the forthcoming version of Windows, Sonic’s expanded support of the DVD+R/+RW and DVD-RAM/-R/-RW real-time DVD recording formats ensures that consumers will have the broadest flexibility in choosing DVD recording devices for their living room and PC.

“In 2001 Sonic MyDVD was the first consumer application to support DVD+R/+RW Video Recording by importing a DVD+RW disc recorded on a set-top DVD+R/+RW recorder and allowing the user to edit the disc’s content, while maintaining compatibility with legacy DVD-Video players and DVD-enabled PCs,” said Henk de Wit, Philips Consumer Electronics, BCU Peripherals & Accessories. “We are excited that Sonic’s forthcoming versions of AuthorScript and MyDVD will exploit the capabilities of the DVD+R/+RW Video Recording format.”

The new DVD video recording capabilities that Sonic is implementing deliver a unique approach to realtime recording, editing, and optimization that enables users to move video content easily between settop DVD recorders and their personal computers. The enhancements to MyDVD are built upon the DVD+R/+RW and DVD-RAM/-R/-RW format capabilities that Sonic is developing for AuthorScript®, the DVD and CD formatting and burning engine that underlies Sonic's applications.

The DVD+R/RW Video Recording and DVD-RAM/-R/-RW VR enhancements are built around key technologies developed as part of Sonic’s AuthorScript. These include:

  • Video optimization – Video is automatically optimized when recorded, edited, or appended to recordable and rewritable DVD discs. This more efficiently utilizes space, providing the greatest amount of video on a disc, and also results in smoother, more seamless playback.

  • Direct-to-DVD™ recording and editing – Video can be directly recorded on the PC in DVD+R/+RW Video Recording format, delivering round-trip inter-operability. In addition, MyDVD Sonic Announces Next-generation DVD+VR and DVD-VR Support for AuthorScript and MyDVD users can update and edit their DVD+R/+RW Video Recording and DVD-RAM/-R/-RW VR discs on their PC, taking advantage of the extensive and easy-to-use authoring and editing environment in MyDVD, while maintaining compatibility with set-top recorders.

  • Finish-to-DVD™ – While the DVD+R/+RW Video Recording format offers high compatibility with existing DVD-Video players in the market, this exclusive MyDVD feature allows anyone to easily add professional-looking motion menus, transitions between clips, and photo slideshows to DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW recordings and finalize their discs in the DVD-Video format, making them 100% compatible* with the more than 300 million DVD players installed around the world. Because finished DVD-Video discs produced by MyDVD are OpenDVD®-compliant, users can continue to edit them or append new material anytime using any OpenDVD-enabled application, such as MyDVD and Sonic DVD Producer™.

“As an outstanding industry leader in DVD authoring solutions, Sonic’s DVD products are known for their ease-of-use, high-performance, and exceptional features,” said Tony Jasionowski, Group Manager at Panasonic Technologies Company. “Panasonic couldn’t be happier that consumers and OEMs with Sonic MyDVD and our DVD MULTI drive will have an excellent solution for recording, editing and optimizing VR content. Sonic MyDVD truly bridges the divide between PCs and consumer electronics.”

In addition to the new VR editing, recording and output features, Sonic MyDVD incorporates exclusive HyperMux™ technology to ensure better stream quality and integrity, using the Sonic DVD formatting technology which is the standard for commercial title authoring in Hollywood.

“Sonic has long led the industry with its commitment to DVD-Video recording, and we are excited to continue to expand on our capabilities with this latest technology,” said Mark Ely, Senior Vice-president of Strategy at Sonic. “That’s just one of many reasons why millions of people have chosen Sonic MyDVD to create DVDs of their favorite video, audio, and photos. We concur with Microsoft’s approach of supporting the various physical DVD formats to give consumers and the industry the choice of what works best for their needs. Sonic’s new extended support for the DVD+R/+RW Video Recording and DVD-RAM/-R/-RW VR formats goes even further, making MyDVD and AuthorScript work seamlessly with all the various physical and logical formats.”

Sonic plans to offer the DVD-Video Recording-enhanced versions of MyDVD through selected OEMs starting in the summer of 2003, with retail versions slated for release later in the year. Sonic AuthorScript implementations of DVD+R/+RW Video Recording and DVD-VR support will be released to selected licensing partners in the PC and consumer electronics markets starting in the second calendar quarter of 2003.
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* “Compatibility” refers to logical format compatibility. Older DVD players may exhibit physical incompatibility with recordable DVD discs.

About Sonic MyDVD
Sonic MyDVD is the leading PC application for consumer DVD creation. With its ability to record analog and digital video (DV) in real-time into MPEG-2 for DVD, MyDVD is the fastest and easiest way to share treasured video memories with friends and family on DVD discs, from wedding videos to children's birthday parties and other special events.

Sonic MyDVD makes it easy to burn high-quality DVDs with motion-video menus, animated buttons and True DVD Slideshows with transitions and soundtracks. Sonic MyDVD also features optimized Direct-to- DVD™ recording which allows users, in just a few clicks, to record content directly to DVD from a video source connected to the computer’s video input. Sonic MyDVD is also OpenDVD®-compliant, enabling previously burned DVDs to be opened, re-edited, updated with new video and photo content and reburned to DVD and CD recordable/re-writable media. This enables an entirely new generation of DVD and CD applications, such as video diaries, up-to-the-minute, customized sales presentations, compilations of family events, and more.

About Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC)
Based in Marin County, California, Sonic Solutions (http://www.sonic.com) is the world's leading supplier of DVD creation software for professional, industrial and consumer applications. The majority of major film releases on DVD have been produced on Sonic's professional DVD authoring systems in studios around the world. Sonic's MyDVD® and DVDit!® are the most widely used DVD creation applications by consumers and video enthusiasts and are the solutions of choice among the key PC and after-market drive suppliers. Sonic's RecordNow is a leading solution for audio and data mastering. Sonic's AuthorScript, the DVD and CD formatting and burning engine that underlies Sonic's applications, is the most widely deployed DVD software engine and has been licensed by Adobe, Microsoft, Sony, and many others.

Sonic, the Sonic logo, Backup MyPC, CinePlayer, DVD PrePlay, DVD Producer, Edit-on-DVD, OpenDVD, PrimeTime, RecordNow and Simple Backup are trademarks of Sonic Solutions. AuthorScript, AutoDVD, DVD-Audio Creator, DVD Creator, DVDit!, DVD Fusion, MyDVD, NoNOISE, ReelDVD, Scenarist and Sonic Solutions are registered trademarks of Sonic Solutions. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners and, in some cases, are used by Sonic under license. Specifications, pricing and delivery schedules are subject to change without notice.