Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the latest update for Adobe Flash Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which adds H.264 standard video support, the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players, and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio support, as well as hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced full screen video playback.

These advancements enable the delivery of HD television quality and premium audio content through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player and help pave the way to expand rich media Flash experiences on the desktop and H.264 ready consumer devices. The latest update for Adobe Flash Player 9 will be available in beta for immediate download later today on Adobe Labs.

“Adobe is committed to providing a seamless creation-to-playback solution that allows creatives and developers to produce video and rich-media once, and then deploy that content across the widest array of distribution and playback environments,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. “The inclusion of the H.264 codec in Adobe Flash Player, Adobe AIR, the Creative Suite product line, and the upcoming Adobe Media Player will accelerate customer workflows, enabling the creation and repurpose of high-quality Web video content without extra development costs.”

The H.264 standard is already widely used, including content distributed by Apple via its iTunes music store. According to Adobe, their Flash Player is used by 98.7% of Web users. As users update their Flash Player, nearly all computers will have H.264 support.

The announcement could also create new interest in AAC audio encoding as an alternative to MP3. Support is included in the new player, which will make it as widely supported as MP3.

Content developers can reduce the cost of encoding and preparing data for distribution with H.264 and HE-AAC support in Adobe Flash Player, since these standards are already integrated into their existing authoring workflows. In addition, Adobe is working with an ecosystem of video encoding partners to expand rich media Flash experiences that already support these standards.

Availability

The public beta version of the update to Adobe Flash Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which includes H.264 and HE-AAC functionality, will be available later today as a free download from Adobe Labs. The final release is expected to be available via update in the fall.