Until now, high quality encoded theatrical movies could only be viewed on a computer desktop using DVD technology. Piranha, Inc. CEO Ed Sample demonstrated the first Piranha Stream™ CD-ROM that contained a high quality RKO Pictures 90-minute theatrical movie, and a 7-minute promotional piece. Sample also provided a second CD-ROM demonstration that contained a 70-minute concert featuring the Grammy Award®-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (BTC), as well as several music videos and movie trailers.

‘I have seen the compression technology of tomorrow today, and its name is Piranha Stream,’ states Jeff Moseley, President of music label M2.0 and 20-year veteran of the Christian music industry. ‘Never before have I seen this level of quality and clarity in concert with this large leap in technology.

‘Compressing a 162 gigabyte movie onto a 650 megabyte CD-ROM in “real time” is a great achievement, but delivering it in broadcast quality is an amazing feat,’ said Nate McClintock, President and Chief Operating Officer of Piranha’s Zideo.com subsidiary, which markets Piranha products. ‘Until now, it couldn’t be done because the picture quality was not up to par when compressed at those rates. Piranha Stream has changed all that with our “real time” encoding and unique science. This product will have a significant impact on the streaming video industry.’

An interesting development, though we’d like to know which ‘RKO Pictures 90-minute theatrical movie’ was shown. It’s safe to say it didn’t include an enhanced widescreen transfer and a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack…still, it bodes well for the future of digital compression.