Comments on: Sun’s new video codec

By: john_jk

john_jk — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:09:17 +0000

Hi Uraeus. That’s really Great info. I believe its patented codec. But if you also tell more in terms of its commercialization whether its licensable? and if yes how much it cost?

Also about how its Quality / performance as compared to popular video codecs such as H.264 codecs.

also something details about pros and cons of this codecs for comparison purpose. recently I’ve read one blog. http://videocodecs.wordpress.com/ where great comparative info have been given about pros and cons.

Waiting for some good info

By: uraeus

uraeus — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:28:08 +0000

@Wes: The plan to call it such is to try to line up the library and tools situation to a level where it become a very enticing proposition. Our partners in the media world is also doing their bit, with Dirac for instance being pushed forward for standardisation as VC-2. Support in things like Opera and Firefox should be another key part of the story to solve the eternal chicken and egg situation.

As for built-in support for existing Mac (or Windows apps). Well there are DirectShow and Quicktime plugins for a lot of this stuff and more is underway. But I think getting Mac users for instance to get and start using these codecs without ‘market pressure’ will be hard and thus having free tools which will be pioneered by the Linux and maybe even Windows world is a core part of the success formula.

By: dave

dave — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:08:36 +0000

I think this could be genius. I wonder if it’s possible to have advanced decoding already in the bitstream specification and tools and then introduce the patented parts into encoded files as time passes.

I’ve often thought the video world was driven too much the by gee-whiz, “if the number’s higher it must be better” school of technology evaluation. Much like pharmaceutical companies I’d suspect these codec producers of minor twiddling on top of solid technologies just to get another few years of patent protection on the resultant combination.

Also ccording to their FAQ they plan to use Vorbis as the audio layer. I always thought it strange that in all the HTML5 video kerfuffle about patents the much simpler and safer Vorbis audio was never mentioned even though audio and video obviously go hand in hand.

By: Wes Felter

Wes Felter — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:54:28 +0000

Is there a plan for getting critical mass? Because I don’t think it will happen by itself.

Speaking as a Mac user, Pitivi and Jokosher are pretty much the last things I want and thus would not encourage me to use free codecs. I expect codecs to plug in to the multimedia apps that I already have installed (iLife). I do use Perian, so free codecs could piggyback on that.

By: Stoffe

Stoffe — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:01:40 +0000

Oh, oh, oh and also, let’s please physically stop all fanboys from angrily point to projects like PiTiVi, saying “PiTiVi takes care of that for you, and it’s free software!” when PiTiVi barely even loads movies yet. I swear, those uniformed, loud kids are the cancer hurting, well everything (not killing, of course, but creating a lot of pain).

By: John McHugh

John McHugh — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:39:17 +0000

Yeay, Jokosher isn’t dead REJOICE
and does anyone else think that opensource seems to be the buzzward for marketing companies these days. I have loved opensource for a very long time but at the same time I find it amusing to see big companies try and use it as a marketing tool to increase their rep.
Hysterical to see companies like dell and intel push opensource drivers onto manufacturers now considering their response a few years ago was FU lol