LAS VEGAS – Sony continues its support of the UMD format with the introduction of UMD Composer 2, a software-only solution that allows users to encode and multiplex content, create interactive elements, and generate the final disc image. The company says over 30 facilities worldwide are currently using UMD Composer to create content for the UMD format that runs on its popular PSP portable gaming system. The UMD disc offers 1.9 GB of storage and can hold as much as four hours of content when formatted for the PSP’s 6- x 3-inch screen.
Version 2 of UMD Composer includes the addition of a new standalone multiplexer, which provides concurrent multi-project functionality by allowing multiplexing and encoding procedures to operate on separate workstations. The refined distributed encoding in UMD Composer 2 also works more efficiently and streamlines the set-up process.
UMD Composer 2 consists of three components: the Stream Composer Package, the Video Interactive System Package and the Image Creator Package. The collection together starts at $20,000. Sony offers a year of support for $5,000. Version 2 is available for free to all registered UMD Composer users covered by a support agreement. A hardware emulator is also available.