Thomson(with Fraunhofer Institute IIS) releases software for MP3HD, a new type of audio file using lossless compression. MP3HD files will be 4X the size of MP3 files, but compatible with existing MP3 players.

The software includes command-line tools for Windows and Linux to convert standard WAV files into MP3HD, and a plugin for the Winamp media player for Windows PCs for listening to them.

While in MP3 files some of the audio detail is thrown away in the process of compressing and uncompressing the file, MP3HD uses lossless compression, preserving all the info required to create a WAV file bit-for-bit identical to the original.

The extensions to the MP3 format contained in MP3HD are proprietary and, as with the original MP3 format, anyone wanting to sell devices containing the encoder or decoder must obtain a license.

Go MP3HD