Microsoft to Unveil Sound Technology

Microsoft Corp. is developing technology that can deliver cinematic surround sound through the Internet, the latest in a series of efforts to make online media more appealing to consumers and programmers.

The company is expected to give a preview today of its new Windows Media technologies, which stream audiovisual files through the Internet and play them on computers. Numerous companies are battling for a share of the streaming media market, with Microsoft and RealNetworks Inc. locked in a fierce fight for supremacy.

The latest Microsoft package includes the ability to stream six channels of high-fidelity audio for surround-sound effects, which are popular among gamers and home-theater enthusiasts. However, the software isn’t compliant with Dolby Digital and DTS surround-sound technologies.

The new Windows Media software also can deliver the equivalent of high-definition picture quality in a compressed video file, enabling a high-definition movie to be squeezed onto a DVD, said Jonathan Usher, group manager for Windows Digital Media Division. Alternatively, Usher said, multiple movies in conventional DVD quality could be squeezed onto a single disc.