PlayCast Announces HD Upgrade To Cloud Gaming Service

Video game streaming technology firm Playcast Media Systems announced a high definition upgrade to its service, allowing it to deliver streaming games in HD through IPTV and cable networks without a console. Similar to cloud-based gaming service OnLive, Playcast offers a games-on-demand system that doesn't require players to own a video game console. The Israeli company says this new HD support allows it to match the quality of next-generation game consoles and align itself with the mass adoption of HDTVs. This new version of Playcast's system supports HD at 720p resolution -- expanded support to 1080i is planned for later this year -- and is available for both MPEG2 and H.264 codec formats. The firm expects to launch the first live HD integration later this month with a European operator. Playcast's catalog includes a mix of classic brands and day-and-date titles from major publishers such as Atari, Capcom, Codemasters, and THQ, as well as independent companies like DDI, Strategy First, and Zushi. "We have achieved new levels of compression efficiency," says Dr. Natan Peterfreund, Playcast's CTO and also one of the authors of the H.264 video compression standard. "Using this the new system, HD games can be streamed even on legacy MPEG2 cable set top boxes, at the same bandwidth footprint of standard definition video." He adds, "While standard definition is by far the dominant TV transmission technology, many high end gamers expect to play next generation titles in HD. It was quite an engineering feat to provide such a leap in game performance and video quality, while reducing the network resources by more than 60 percent."