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THOMSON: Thomson Introduces mp3HD File Format, New Format Provides Ultimate Audio Quality

^{Published on 2009-03-19 05:41:07, Last Modified on 2009-11-03 18:59:35 - Market Wire}
 

PARIS--(Marketwire - March 19, 2009) - Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS), worldwide leader of services to the content creators, today introduces mp3HD, the latest addition to the mp3 family.

The new mp3HD format allows mathematically lossless compression of audio material while preserving backward compatibility to the mp3 standard.

Content creators, the music industry and end users are now able to enjoy the ultimate audio quality experience with the same ease of use as the mp3 format. Users and content owners can organize their music library with the simplicity that they are used to with mp3 files. With the mp3HD format, the music industry can engage in user-friendly distribution of lossless music and audio files. The added file size required for lossless compression no longer being a limiting factor thanks to the continuous increase in Internet bandwidth capacity and file storage size.

"Over the past years, most of the music download services have adopted mp3 as their format of choice. By introducing this new mp3HD format, Thomson enables users and content providers to enjoy ultimate audio quality while preserving the convenience of the mp3 format," said Rocky Caldwell, General Manager, mp3 and Audio Licensing for Thomson.

mp3 is the most famous and recognizable digital audio and music file format. It was co-developed by Thomson and the Fraunhofer Institute IIS. The mp3 format is one of the major assets of Thomson's portfolio of licenses with over 600 licensees.

mp3HD files are mp3-compliant files that include additional side information, which, together with the mp3 portion of the file, can be decoded by an mp3HD-capable decoder. Standard mp3 players can simply play the mp3 portion of the file.

By visiting the websites [ www.all4mp3.com ] or [ www.mp3HD.com ], users can download free mp3HD utilities, such as a command line encoder to create their own content and play it back with the Winamp plug-in. The evaluation encoder enables the creation of mp3HD files out of stereo material in wav form at 16 bit precision and 44.1Khz. It is available for both Linux and Windows platforms. The mp3HD Winamp plug-in for Windows is capable playing back the lossless files as a bit-exact replica of the original. Professionals can find all information and license mp3HD from Thomson at [ http://www.mp3licensing.com/ ].

Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, "media and entertainment" markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the nancial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Thomson:

Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) is a worldwide leader of services to content creators. [ http://www.thomson.net ]

 +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Press Relations | | | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Marine Boulot | +33 1 41 86 55 97|marine.boulot@thomso| | | |n.net | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Investor Relations | | | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Vincent Griffon | +33 1 41 86 61 48|vincent.griffon@thom| | | |son.net | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Laurent Sfaxi | +33 1 41 86 58 83|laurent.sfaxi@thomso| | | |n.net | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Linda Lovichi | +33 1 41 86 51 00|linda.lovichi@thomso| | | |n.net | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Industry Analyst | | | |Relations | | | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Guillaume B. Trichard | +33 1 41 86 65 71|guillaume.trichard@t| | | |homson.net | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ 

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