Tag Archives: codec

ITU approves the H.265 video format, takes us closer to high-quality mobile video

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ITU approves the H265 video format, takes us closer to highquality mobile video

Any smartphone owner who's ever watched a streaming HD video buffer... and buffer... and buffer on even LTE connections will appreciate the ITU's speediness today. Just months after MPEG proposed the extra-miserly H.265 video codec, the ITU has approved it as an official standard. As it's greenlit so far, the format (also known as High Efficiency Video Coding) includes 8-bit, 10-bit and photo-oriented profiles that should cover most 2D capture and playback. Pros are promised 12-bit and chroma profiles in the future, while there's work on 3D for all of us. We'll have to wait for both software support and hardware acceleration to reap the rewards, but there should be many: the halved bandwidth requirements have obvious benefits for cellular devices as well as 4K media delivery for that rash of giant TVs about to hit the market. Let's hope that camera and mobile device makers are just as impatient as we are.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: ITU

University of Bath develops efficient vector-based video, says pixels are old hat

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University of the Bath develops vector-based video, may retire the pixel

The pixel does the job for most digital imagery -- it sure makes for a fine shirt -- but it's not so hot for video, where growing resolutions chew up gobs of bandwidth. There may be a wiser strategy coming from the University of Bath, whose researchers have developed a more efficient approach to movie codecs. Their new format uses vectors to render footage with colored contours that demand fewer resources than a dot-by-dot approach. While vector-based rendering isn't original in itself, the researchers' method is supposedly unique in filling the gaps between the contours with the kind of visual quality a pro videographer would crave. The university team is confident enough that it's talking to major companies about using the codec for post-production tools, and sees it spreading to mobile devices where connection speeds and storage are at a premium. It could take years for vector-based video to catch on; if the technology ever upsets the pixel's reign, though, more than a few Vectrex owners may see it as poetic justice.

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Via: Popular Science

Source: University of Bath

Sony to release XAVC 4K video spec, licensees include Apple, Adobe

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Sony to release XAVC video format SDK to 4K developers

Sony has announced that it'll release an SDK to 4K developers this month for its recently launched XAVC video format used by the new F5 and F55 CineAlta camcorders. The new specification uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video compression, which allows up to 12-bit color depth, 60 fps shooting speed at 4k and 180 fps in HD. So far, fourteen companies including Adobe and Apple have signed on as licensees, and Sony says the format may come to consumer products as well. Details of the program along with an SDK will arrive this month, just in time for a possible Ultra HD onslaught.

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Sony to release XAVC 4K video spec, licensees include Apple, Adobe originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype promising CD quality sound from new ‘Opus’ audio codec, fewer choppy calls

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Skype's got a new audio codec that it thinks you should be pumped about, and it's called "Opus." It's been kicked around at Skype since March 2009, though work didn't begin in earnest until June of the same year, and it was just certified by the IETF as a standard of online audio. Senior Skype architect Koen Vos lead a team of audio engineers to create the hybrid audio codec, combining Skype's own "SILK" codec with Xiph.Org's "CELT" codec, intending to create a low-bandwidth codec "designed for the internet." But what does that mean for us? It means "CD quality" audio (fullband stereo sound) over Skype, regardless of internet connection. And what about those pesky packet loss issues that cause Skype calls to often sound choppy? "It has multiple mechanics to deal with and recover from packet loss plaguing the network," promises audio/video product engineering director Karlheinz Wurm. So ... uh, less of a chance of sounding like an Autobot then? Great!

Wurm says the new codec "will make a quiet but crystal clear entry into the world" without naming exactly when. And yes, Opus is expected to become standard across all Skype platforms. What's that, you want to watch a 45 minute speech about Opus? We've got you covered, just below the break.

Continue reading Skype promising CD quality sound from new 'Opus' audio codec, fewer choppy calls

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Skype promising CD quality sound from new 'Opus' audio codec, fewer choppy calls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raspberry Pi lands MPEG-2 and VC-1 decoding through personal licenses, H.264 encoding and CEC tag along

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Raspberry Pi lands MPEG-2 and VC-1 decoding through personal licenses, H.264 encoding and CEC tag along

Making the Raspberry Pi affordable involved some tough calls, including the omission of MPEG-2 decoding. Licensing fees alone for the video software would have boosted the board's price by approximately 10 percent. Now, after many have made media centers with the hardware, the foundation behind the project has whipped up a solution to add the missing codec. For $3.16, users can purchase an individual MPEG-2 license for each of their boards on the organization's online store. Partial to Microsoft's VC-1 standard? Rights to using Redmond's codec can be purchased for $1.58. H.264 encoding is also in the cards since OpenMax components needed to develop applications with the functionality are now enabled by default in the device's latest firmware. With CEC support thrown into the Raspbmc, XBian and OpenELEC operating systems, a single IR remote can control a Raspberry Pi, a TV and other connected gadgets. If you're ready to load up your Pi with its newfound abilities, hit the source link below.

Update: The Raspberry Pi Foundation let us know that US customers won't have to pay sales tax, which means patrons will only be set back $3.16 for MPEG-2 and $1.58 for VC-1 support, not $3.79 and $1.90 for the respective licenses. We've updated the post accordingly.

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Raspberry Pi lands MPEG-2 and VC-1 decoding through personal licenses, H.264 encoding and CEC tag along originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013

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MPEG drafts twiceasefficient H265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013

All of that squabbling over H.264 may be rendered moot in the near future. The Motion Picture Experts Group (better known as MPEG) has just let us know that it was quietly drafting a new video standard while everyone was on summer vacation last month: H.265, also called High Efficiency Video Coding, promises to squeeze video sizes with double the efficiency of H.264. As you might imagine, this could lead either to a much smaller video footprint for bandwidth-starved mobile users or a hike to image quality with the same size as before. Imagine fast-loading HD streaming on 4G, or cable TV without all the excess compression, and you've got the idea. Ericsson Research visual technology lead Per Fröjdh anticipates H.265 coming as soon as 2013, when our smartphones and tablets are most likely to play it first. TV and other areas might have to wait, although Fröjdh is offering a consolation prize -- he's teasing a separate MPEG project that could give us glasses-free, compressed 3D video as a standard by 2014.

Continue reading MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013

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MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official VLC app now out for Android: only an unstable beta, but it works

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Official VLC app now out for Android, but only an 'unstable' beta release

Okay, so VLC may not be the media darling it once was, but it still has a legion of fans -- as evidenced by the (official) beta version's warm welcome over at Google Play. Despite a clear warning that the build is unstable and might "kill your kitten," users report mostly smooth multi-format video playback on a wide range of devices running Android 2.1 and up, and any jitters will no doubt be resolved over time -- the whole point is that it's open-source and ripe for improvement.

Official VLC app now out for Android: only an unstable beta, but it works originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft talks DVD, Media Center support in Windows 8 and why most won’t miss it

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If you have to issue an explanation to follow up an explanation, then it's pretty safe to say the first one wasn't clear enough, and it's under those circumstances that Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky and the Windows 8 team are returning to the subject of Media Center and DVD movie support. After addressing both a few days ago, the internet backlash was (predictably) quick to finding out that Media Center would be available only as an upgrade to the Pro version of the OS, and that without it Windows wouldn't natively play DVDs. What many may not know however, and the new FAQ points out, is that this is not an entirely new thing -- Windows XP did not have support outside of specialized editions or add-ons, several versions of Vista did not play DVDs and on Windows 7 the Basic and Starter editions lacked the add-on. Of course, for most users this doesn't matter in the least since brand new PCs tend to ship with third party software to play DVDs (or Blu-ray movies where applicable, which no version of Windows has or will natively support). Answering the question we had of what this means for users upgrading their own computers, they'll either need to see if they have existing third party software to play DVDs that is compatible with Windows 8, or acquire Media Center post-upgrade.

Continue reading Microsoft talks DVD, Media Center support in Windows 8 and why most won't miss it

Microsoft talks DVD, Media Center support in Windows 8 and why most won't miss it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 May 2012 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft breaks down Windows 8’s Media Center upgrade path, Dolby codec support

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Windows 8 Media Center

Many in the Windows Media Center community were afraid that Windows 8 would mark the end of Media Center, while others thought it would be like Notepad -- present, but unchanged. In the end both were wrong as Microsoft announced Media Center would be available as an add-on to Windows 8. Until now though, we didn't know exactly how that process would work. Steven Sinofsky outlined on the Building Windows 8 blog how users will be able to use Add Features to Windows 8 in Control Panel and purchase the same great Media Center experience that was included in Windows 7 Premium and Pro. The price is still unannounced but is expect to be "in line with marginal costs" -- whatever that means. The price paid will cover the royalties for the required codecs to support broadcast TV and DVD playback (DVDs still won't play in Media Player). One codec that will be supported in all version of Windows 8, but will require the computer maker to license the codec directly, is Dolby Digital Plus. So yeah, something else that was included in Windows 7 for free. We're glad it's there, but wish we'd get something new for the new premium price. Like most, we'll probably hold on to our Windows 7 HTPC a little bit longer.

Continue reading Microsoft breaks down Windows 8's Media Center upgrade path, Dolby codec support

Microsoft breaks down Windows 8's Media Center upgrade path, Dolby codec support originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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