(press release) — Indrema Corporation, the Open Source digital entertainment company, announced that Linux users will soon enjoy a wave of professional video applications thanks to an Open Source project called OpenStream. The OpenStream project is a collaboration of several development groups, including Indrema, LiViD, and other major Linux vendors soon to be announced working to create a new… royalty-free gold standard for professional video on Linux.

The project will be hosted on VA Linux's SourceForge, where Open Source developers are encouraged to contribute to the API and code development. The project will produce the OpenStream 1.0 API specification and Sample Implementation with support for MPEG2 encoding, decoding hardware acceleration-an access architecture for various CODECs, and drivers for a variety of popular MPEG2 hardware. In other news, Indrema announced today its selection of NVIDIA's future-generation graphics processing unit (GPU) as the standard GPU in the Indrema L600 Entertainment System, which will take advantage of advanced gaming performance and OpenStream video technology.

“The OpenStream API will enable professional quality hardware video acceleration compatible with the Direct Rendering Infrastructure now distributed in XFree86 4.0,” said John Gildred, CEO and founder of Indrema. “The plan is to create a scalable video architecture which surpasses that of Microsoft or Apple, with an Open Source code base so everyone can contribute to its fast evolution.”

The OpenStream 1.0 specification will be released to a standards body to govern its future development as an Open Standard, and the code development will continue to evolve according to the Open Source model. Professional non-linear editing software, multimedia presentation software tools and Internet video authoring tools are all examples of products that will benefit from a common open standard for video on Linux.

“The Linux Open Source community is in great need of a standardized video architecture which offers scalability and high performance,” said Matthew R. Pavlovich manager of LiViD, an initiative to coordinate various Open Source projects for Linux video. “The LiViD project is very hopeful that OpenStream will be that architecture, and we are pleased to see the OpenStream project members take
the initiative to work with LiViD to ensure that the development efforts are not fragmented.”

Indrema and other supporters of the standard hope to see many video products released with OpenStream support soon after the 1.0 specification is completed. A completion date for the final 1.0 specification will be expected later this year, but start-up funding for the project has been provided by Indrema. Other major Linux vendors have also agreed to help fund the project and their participation will be announced shortly. More information about the OpenStream project and related technologies will soon be available at http://indrema.com/openstream.

About Indrema

Indrema designs, markets and sells consumer electronics and Open Source system software for digital home entertainment. Founded on January 1, 2000, Indrema believes that all operating system software must evolve in an Open Source environment, where application software may remain proprietary. Indrema is currently developing a new distribution of the Linux operating system specifically designed for TV and HDTV applications. Indrema consumer electronics products will offer digital audio, video, Internet and next-generation 3D gaming features for the Open Source platform.

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