webqem blog

Last week saw the release of the latest update to the Flash Player. Previously code named “Moviestar” Flash Player 9 Update 3 now supports the H.265 video standard – the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players.

This version also includes hardware acceleration for better performance on multi-core machines.

A HD gallery has been launched to help demonstrate the capabilities of the new version of the player, it’s well worth checking out at http://www.adobe.com/products/hdvideo/hdgallery/

The release of Service Pack 3 for Adobe Acrobat Connect has meant a visible improvement in performance partly made possible by the required use of Flash Player 8.

Flash Player 8 has better video compression algorithms (codecs), which are being utilised in this update to Connect for improved quality screen sharing during live meetings.

Another benefit is that Flash video files (FLVs) compressed with the Flash 8 codec are now better performers when served up as content from the Adobe Acrobat Connect server. Connect can stream FLV files, detecting user connection speeds and optimising performance on the fly, with better quality visuals coming as a result of the codecs used for Flash 8.

While there are a number of applications available for compressing video into the FLV format the majority, especially the freeware and shareware variety, are still only using Flash 7 compression. Adobe ship a Flash Video Encoder with Flash CS3.