Charlotte, NC (July 3, 2013) – LEAD Technologies is pleased to announce the release of major updates to its h.264 Encoder shipping with the latest LEADTOOLS Multimedia Version 18 imaging SDK. Updates to the h.264 Encoder include hardware acceleration utilizing Intel's Quick Sync Video technology, High Profile capabilities, along with additional updates and improvements to the rest of the Multimedia product line.

The addition of Intel Quick Sync Video is a major accomplishment, placing LEAD in a prestigious crowd alongside only two other officially certified companies supporting Quick Sync Video. When utilizing the new hardware acceleration on supported processors, video encoding time is typically cut in half, with an almost 60% reduction in CPU utilization.

"We are very excited about releasing new features in the LEADTOOLS Multimedia toolkit today," said Moe Daher, Chairman and CEO of LEAD Technologies. "LEAD's very first product in the early '90s was a hardware image compression board, so it was a lot of fun getting back to our roots by tapping into Intel's Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration technology. Moreover, LEADTOOLS Multimedia Version 18 customers using our h.264 encoder are getting one of the most significant speed upgrades to any of our encoders free of charge. Our combination of speed, video quality and high-level APIs continue to make up the world's leading Multimedia SDK."

In addition to the new h.264 features, this release includes several new features to the Multimedia SDK which improve its flexibility and customization. Programmers may now implement their own video renderer — for example, an OpenGL based solution — along with a demo to help customers get started on their custom rendering projects. The MPEG-2 Transport UDP Source Filter was enhanced with new options to monitor the receipt of data for optimal synchronized playback when using multiple video sources.

Overall, the LEADTOOLS Multimedia Version 18 SDK is faster and more programmer friendly than ever before. It remains the premier choice for adding audio and video capture, conversion and playback to your applications and is primed for many more years of prolonged success.

About Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel Quick Sync Video, built right into the 4th generation Intel Core processor, uses dedicated media processing to make video creation and conversion faster and easier. With it you can create DVDs or Blu-ray discs, create and edit 3D videos, convert 2D video files into 3D, and convert video for your portable media player and for uploading to your favorite social networking sites—all in a flash. For more information visit http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/quick-sync-video/quick-sync-video-general.html

About LEAD Technologies

With a rich history of more than 34 years, LEAD has established itself as the world's leading provider of software development toolkits. LEAD's flagship product, LEADTOOLS, provides programmers with a powerful set of libraries for Recognition, Document, Vector, Medical, Imaging, and Multimedia development. LEAD boasts a diverse customer base as well as a strong list of corporate partners including some of the largest and most influential organizations from around the globe. For more information, visit www.leadtools.com.