PC giants sued over DVD formatting
By Ed Sperling, Editor in Chief -- EDN, August 30, 2007
A Los Altos, Calif.-based software developer claims PC giants Dell, Apple, Gateway and Acer are infringing on technology that allows users to determine the proper format for DVD recording.
Mediostream filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, claiming the PC giants are infringing on a 2006 patent entitled “Method and system for direct recording of video information onto a disk medium.” Mediostream is seeking damages and a permanent injunction.
At issue is the ability to determine the size and format for the video recording, so that when it is played on a widescreen television, for example, it doesn’t appear in full-screen format. The software also can convert streaming compressed files into uncompressed files that can be recorded and played on a DVD player, a technology that could become extremely useful as companies such as Blockbuster and Netflix begin streaming videos to customers instead of sending disks.
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