FrameFree®

FrameFree® is the registered trademark of Monolith Co., Ltd. "FrameFree® technology" describes an exclusive technology developed by Monolith Co., Ltd. that automatically generates pixel matching and can be used for wide range of imaging products such as motion photography, automated animation and video compression algorithms. The name "FrameFree®" comes from the fact that FrameFree®-produced motion imagery is represented continuously, without relying on discrete frames like any other conventional video formats (including QuickTime, DVD, MPEG and Windows Media Player). The number of frames FrameFree® displays is completely arbitrary and can be interactively controlled by the user in real-time. FrameFree® can be used to create beautiful motion pictures from photographs. We call these file FrameFree Media files. FrameFree® can also be applied to video compression which we call FrameFree Video. FrameFree® technology is fully developed and many FrameFree Media files can be found throughout this website. FrameFree Video is currently under development, and demonstrations and quantitative metrics for this product will be made available on our site in late 2008. FrameFree® techniques and FrameFree Video techniques can be merged and further enhanced to create FrameFree X. FrameFree X is in R&D phase at this time and we will announce demos for FrameFree X as they become available.

Introducing FrameFree®

FrameFree® is the most advanced and high performance pixel matching software in the world. Nothing comes even close to our performance. The core mathematical algorithms are called "Critical Point Filters". Technical and academic materials for CPF are available for download in this section as PDF files. FrameFree® automatically generates movies from digital still images by interpolating, morphing and generating "in-between" frames from selected Key Frames. FrameFree® allows the production of stunning motion videos with unmatched, distinguishing quality at the minimum cost with ultra small files sizes that can be easily sent even on wireless and cellular networks.

FrameFree® is not just a new technology; it proposes an entirely new medium and a completely new style of visual expression. In other words, it is a totally new digital imaging platform that will take us through the 21st century. No more dumb video, here comes intelligent motion imagery. Photographers have used FrameFree® to create wonderful photo-movies, called MotionGravures®. Some of these works can be found in our Samples section. They are neither photos nor traditional video. FrameFree® is a completely new medium of expression. We are blazing into a new world of digital imaging.

FrameFree® movies are created using an authoring tool called FrameFree Studio, for which you can request a trial in the "Products" section of this website. FrameFree Studio accepts digital photography and graphics as source material, and outputs FrameFree Media files, Monolith's proprietary file format. FrameFree Media files can be played by FrameFree Web Player which is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, BREW, and Java. More platforms are planned. FrameFree Web Player can be provided as an ActiveX or Mozilla (Firefox and Netscape) plug-in or in Java for Windows, Mac and any Linux/Unix platforms. BREW Extension FrameFree Decoder was shipped in 2006 and a newer version including FrameFree Decoder, Encoder and sample applications is now being developed and to be shipped in August 2007. GSM-type Java MIDP 2.0 FrameFree® decoders are also available now.

Coming in 2008

FrameFree Video is the world's first pixel-matching based video compression system, pioneered by Monolith, Inc. Unlike all existing Block-Matching video compression systems (like QuickTime, Windows Media, MPEG2, and the new MPEG H.264), FrameFree Video uses our world-renowned pixel matching engine called CPF (Critical Point Filters) to accomplish the unprecedented compression of any video sequence. The resulting FrameFree Video compressed movies are orders of magnitude smaller and have a much higher quality, compared to MPEG-type compression systems. More than just a compressor, FrameFree Video is interactive, allowing consumers to zoom, pan, slow and search the content of any video stream with a touch of a remote. Monolith, Inc. will be launching FrameFree Video in late 2006. Evaluation Kits and B2B deals are available today. Contact us for more information.

FrameFree X will merge the amazing authoring power of FrameFree Studio and the revolutionary compression power of FrameFree Video to make a totally new video medium. This explosive and revolutionary combination of multimedia authoring and the newest video compression technology will be packed into a single formidable product. The FrameFree X system is currently in our R&D labs and we are working hard to make some mind-blowing announcements here in 2007 and 2008. Singularity is near!

Technical information about FrameFree Video and FrameFree X is currently confidential and cannot be disclosed to the public without a NDA. Once the technology is out of the R&D phase and after all the related patents have been filed, Monolith, Inc. will make appropriate public announcements.