Tag Archives: Choosing a codec

My article, The State of Video Codecs 2015, from the Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on StreamingMedia.com. Here are the first few paragraphs to let you know what I covered.  Video compression is the critical enabler of all video streaming, and today we’re at a codec crossroads unlike any that we’ve experienced. Though H.264 remains firmly entrenched as the go-to …

I’m not one to go negative, but when I saw that Microsoft was including HEVC in Windows 10, scheduled for release in 2015, I just had to laugh. Over two years after Windows 8 shipped, I still use it only when I absolutely have to. The most ardent recommendation I make to friends buying a new Windows computer is to …

My recent column, MPEG LA’s HEVC Licensing Terms Are Flawed, Will Prevent Adoption, has generated lots of comments in the LinkedIn HEVC/H.265 Group. One comment, from Anthony Mai, sparked a lengthy response, which I wanted to share. By way of background, I don’t like the proposed licensing terms for multiple reasons, including: – They don’t match the expense of the license …

The more I think about MPEG LA’s proposed HEVC royalty policy, the more I think it’s flawed, primarily because there’s no incentive for Adobe to pay $25 million to add HEVC playback to Flash. Why is this important? Because Flash is still the only delivery technology that can reach 95%+ of desktops and notebooks in a few months after the …

One of the benefits of HEVC is supposed to be that it delivers the same quality of H.264 at 50% of the data rate. However, since there’s little data rate standardization, it’s tough to tell what that means. After all, it means one thing if you produce your H.264-encoded H.264 video at 2 mbps, quite another at 3.5 mbps. I’m …

My latest column in Streaming Media Magazine; Here’s the lead.  There’s a lot of interest in ultra-high definition (UHD) video, and the two codecs that drive it, HEVC and VP9. Over the past few months, a new UHD codec called Daala has also come to the fore. I wanted to take this opportunity to update the status of HEVC and …

The recent news that YouTube will demonstrate 4K video encoded with VP9 at CES with hardware support from a number of chip and TV vendors has all the earmarks of a made-for-press release event; all froth, no substance. That’s OK; press release

There’s a lot of interest in ultra-high definition (UHD) video, and the two codecs that drive it, HEVC and VP9. Over the past few months, a new UHD codec called Daala has also come to the fore. I wanted to take this opportunity to update the st

Here’s the description: This session explores the current status of HEVC, identifying existing and announced options for encoding live and on-demand HEVC, and discussing player options in the streaming and OTT markets. Topics explored will include the comparative quality and usability of HEVC encoders, how HEVC quality compares to H.264 at a range of resolutions and data rates, how HEVC …

While few companies of any kind are actually making money from HEVC (H.265) today, the successor to H.264 will become increasingly important during the next 2–3 years, perhaps even earlier in some markets for some producers. So understanding th