What we will accomplish tomorrow

A key to ODU's Next Generation delivery technology is called H.264. In the summer of 2007, ATS worked to outfit all of the University's sites with this cutting-edge technology. In fact, ODU is the first university in the nation to leverage the convergence of H.264 to deliver courses via a variety of formats.

H.264 is a rather dull name for a very exciting technological standard. Also known as MPEG-4, Part 10, H.264 allows video and audio delivery and interaction over a very wide range of delivery systems and platforms, from high definition studios and wide screen plasma displays to iPods and iPhones. H.264 allows a variety of different systems to link together and share content.

So, while yesterday's delivery environments were dedicated to one particular method of delivery, such as satellite to televisions sets, or small, low definition streaming video to certain client platforms, ODU's move to H.264 has opened the door to the delivery to a wide variety of environments and systems. This is central to the ATS vision of creating the most interactive, flexible and capable system in existence.