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Sonic™ Launches PrimeTime™ Deluxe for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

Enables Media Center Users to Easily Burn Personal Media Such as Recorded TV Shows to DVD

Marin County, California (September 30, 2003) — Sonic Solutions [NASDAQ: SNIC], the leader in DVD creation software, released today Sonic PrimeTime™ Deluxe, the premium version of its Sonic PrimeTime line of DVD creation software for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Launched in conjunction with Microsoft’s release of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, PrimeTime Deluxe expands upon the Media Center experience by making it easy to archive personal digital media such as recorded TV shows onto DVDs that can be played on any home DVD player. With new features including real-time TV preview, expanded menu style selections, OpenDVD® edit-on-disc capability and Sonic SmartStyle™ technology, PrimeTime Deluxe is a great companion product for Windows XP Media Center Edition.

“Sonic continues to demonstrate its commitment to Media Center PCs by releasing a new, more powerful version of Sonic PrimeTime in conjunction with the release of Media Center Edition 2004,” said Joe Belfiore, general manager for the Windows eHome division at Microsoft. “With PrimeTime Deluxe, Sonic has designed an extremely elegant and simple way for consumers to use their Media Center PC to archive their favorite digital media to DVD.”

“Sonic PrimeTime Deluxe enhances the Media Center experience by seamlessly adding DVD burning into the Media Center environment,” said Dave Habiger, senior vice president and general manager for Desktop Products at Sonic. “We are pleased to release PrimeTime Deluxe concurrently with Microsoft’s release of its newest version of Media Center.”

Designed to enhance the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 experience with DVD creation, Sonic PrimeTime Deluxe employs the remote-controlled Media Center user interface to archive digital media such as TV programs that you might otherwise miss. Sonic PrimeTime utilizes the same program information and sorting functionality as Media Center, making it fast and easy for anyone to browse, select, preview and burn their favorite recorded TV shows to DVD or Video CD. Sonic PrimeTime also includes a built-in Bit Budget™ which makes it easy to see how much space is available on each recorded DVD. Once PrimeTime starts burning a DVD, users can return to watching TV or listening to music on their Media Center PC. The final disc can then be played back on standard set-top DVD players and DVD-equipped PCs.

New Sonic PrimeTime Deluxe features include:

  • Edit-on-Disc™ – PrimeTime Deluxe is OpenDVD®-compliant, allowing users to add or remove content on their rewritable DVDs and VCDs at anytime.
  • Real-time preview – PrimeTime Deluxe integrates TV playback into its interface, allowing users to play, pause, and navigate through each show and see the chapter points that will automatically get burned to disc.
  • Sonic SmartStyles™ – PrimeTime Deluxe creates menus that replicate the Media Center experience, allowing users to sort their TV shows directly on their DVD during playback.
  • Style chooser – PrimeTime Deluxe gives users the ability to choose the look and feel of their final DVD disc with a built-in style chooser. Additional styles will be available on the Sonic estore.
  • Dolby® Digital audio – PrimeTime Deluxe includes Dolby Digital audio encoding, providing crystal clear theater-quality sound and allowing for up to 50% more video on a disc*.

About Sonic PrimeTime
The first application designed exclusively for Media Center PCs, Sonic PrimeTime puts the power of DVD burning in the palm of users’ hands – literally. Inspired by Media Center’s large-screen menus and TV connectivity, Sonic PrimeTime makes it fast and easy for users to find, select, and burn their favorite TV shows onto DVDs or Video CDs with just a few clicks of the Media Center’s remote control. Sonic PrimeTime Deluxe will be available for purchase on the Sonic e-store at estore.sonic.com for $79.99 on October 15, 2003.

PrimeTime Deluxe is also featured in Online Spotlight, Media Center’s new built-in online web interface.

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 aftermarket 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. Dolby Digital audio allows you to put 20-50% more video on DVD (depending on your video capture quality setting) than you can with PCM audio (the alternative audio format supported by DVD).

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.