Communicating with your family and friends over an instant messaging program is one of the cheaper (or even free) ways to keep in touch across a few thousand miles. Unfortunately, technology hasn’t exactly caught up with the high definition craze that is sweeping across living rooms in Europe and the US - until now, at least. Quanta and ooVoo have teamed up to offer high-quality, real-time video communication over the Internet, as long as you have a HDTV or notebook . Guess girlfriends who are talking to their boyfriends over this new technology will have to put even more foundation on their faces in order to hide the zits that seem to sprout up like nobody’s business.

CC Leung, vice chairman and president at Quanta Computer said, “The world is just beginning to realize the promise of high definition video as more and more HDTV sets are sold and more HD programming and content becomes available. Quanta is delivering the highest-performing computer hardware platforms since 1988. We are now looking to the day when the benefits of high definition will move from a passive, entertainment-driven technology to one where connecting with friends and collaborating with colleagues is possible in HD. Whether at home, work or on the go, the promise of high definition video opens new possibilities when it is put in a social context. HD video chat is just the first step.”

Quanta and ooVoo’s collaboration has resulted in a system that merges both the latest in video compression/decompression technologies so that users will be able to experience HD delivery in a multipoint environment. High-throughput H.264 codec is used here to great effect, requiring a mere minimum of 512kbps bandwidth for one-way 720p video transactions at 30 fps. Not quite full HD (1080p) at this point in time, but it sure as heck beats 640 x 480 resolution that most people settle for these days anyway.

Press Release