NAB: Sneak Peek at Silverlight

Microsoft's made some waves with Silverlight, its new browser plug-in for video playback that could challenge Flash's Web supremacy. (See the Adobe CEO's view on that here.)

Formerly code-named WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere), the plug-in lets users play back video or interactive multimedia content in high-def or standard-def on the desktop for example, or view video optimized for mobile on their browser-enabled handheld of choice. It works with IE, Firefox, and Safari on both Macs and PCs (Opera support is not there yet, but should be coming). The beta should be available for download in about 2 weeks, with a final version out sometime this summer.

Like Adobe's Flash plug-in, when you go to an enabled Web site, you'd be prompted to download Silverlight and then you'd see a screen like the one below, and select among available clips.

B_Fox HD movie_silverlight .jpg

Depending on the site, you may then be able to view the content in HD, as in the example below.

Silverlight supports the WMV, WMA, and VC-1 (used for in HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, for example) file formats. Content owners can also overlay ads or ticker tape-style information along the bottom of the screen.

Web and desktop content designers can use with Microsoft's Expression Studio Suite to create content for Silverlight. The suite has four major components: Expression Web, Expression Design, Expression Blend, and Expression Media (not all apps are currently shipping in the final version). One component in particular will be enhanced to work with Silverlight.

"Expression Blend will be extended to support development of interactive media experiences for Macs and Windows," said Sean Alexander, Director of Silverlight Media. These new interactive video files would then be played back through Silverlight.

Microsoft also previewed another product, the $299 Expression Media Encoder (shown below), which will make it easier for both pros and less experienced users to take say, a QuickTime file, and then easily convert it for Silverlight playback. The software is robust enough to scale the output for mobile on up to high-definition video.