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Originally published at Internet.comHigh-definition has taken over home video, and now it's invading the Web, as well. New technologies let you shoot, edit, and serve HD in without changing formats, but are you ready to offer it on the Web?
Consumers are broadly embracing HD-quality programming, with Forrester Research predicting that the majority of U.S. households will have an HD television by 2010. A recent report by eMarketer noted that by 2011, there will be 200 million Internet users in the United States and 183 million online video viewers. As broadcast HD becomes commonplace, consumer demand for Internet HD will grow. That's why leading media and online companies are expanding their Internet programming strategies and introducing online HD offerings this year.
To meet that need, content delivery network (CDN) Limelight Networks has introduced LimelightHD, a service for the delivery of HD media and digital content over the Internet. LimelightHD lets online video creators deliver HD-quality movies, TV shows, video clips and games directly to their users' Internet-connected televisions, game consoles, and PCs.
At rollout, Limelight has already brought some major player onboard. Internet TV service Brightcove, Fox Interactive Media, MSN Video, and Rajshri.com (India's leading broadband video portal) have announced that they'll offer HD content via LimelightHD.
"At Fox Interactive, the delivery of premium HD content on Fox on Demand is a critical element in accelerating the market," says Ron Berryman, senior vice president and general manager, Fox Interactive Media. "Limelight's approach to HD content delivery-fast, reliable and scalable-will ensure that consumers can enjoy the programming they want to see on multiple devices and formats."
LimelightHD will provide viewers with a high-def experience by bypassing the often-congested public Internet and delivering content directly to "last-mile" broadband access networks. At the heart of LimelightHD is Limelight's global CDN architecture, which consists of thousands of high-performance content servers distributed worldwide, connected directly to leading broadband access networks, interconnected via a high-speed, dedicated optical network, and built to store and deliver entire content libraries.
This global footprint reduces network latency and ensures that every title in every HD content library - whether the most or least popular - will be consistently available to every user.
"With the introduction of Brightcove Show and the integration of LimelightHD, we give thousands of our Internet TV customers the ability to provide full-screen, broadcast-quality video experiences directly to consumers from their Web sites," says Jeremy Allaire, chairman and CEO of Brightcove. "Limelight is an ideal partner for Brightcove as we extend our Internet TV platform and ad product solutions for media owners who want to deliver long-form, HD-quality video content on the open Internet."
LimelightHD will deliver 720p and 1080p resolution video, and will support the Adobe Flash Player, Microsoft Windows Media, Microsoft Silverlight, and Move Media Player.
For more on LimelightHD, visit the Limelight Networks site.
Author: Troy Dreier
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