Monday, February 22, 2010

Google Acquires On2


Here are a few links to the story:

Google Acquires Video Compression Technology Company On2 For $106 Million

Google to Acquire On2 Technologies

Flash which dominates web video today only uses to video codecs to stream video. H.264 (AKA MPEG4) and ON2 VP7. Technically you need to pay licensing fee's to use either.

H.264 is an open standard, which is still not free through.  There are a number of opensource versions of  the H.264 codec, most notably X.264 and JM10 (the original example code)



From Slashdot:
Free Software Foundation Urges Google To Free VP8


"The FSF have written an open letter to Google urging them to free the VP8 codec with an irrevocable royalty-free licence: 'With its purchase of the On2 video compression technology company having been completed on Wednesday February 16, 2010, Google now has the opportunity to make free video formats the standard, freeing the web from both Flash and the proprietary H.264 codec.'" Also from the letter: "The world would have a new free format unencumbered by software patents. Viewers, video creators, free software developers, hardware makers -- everyone -- would have another way to distribute video without patents, fees, and restrictions. The free video format Ogg Theora was already at least as good for web video (see a comparison) as its nonfree competitor H.264, and we never did agree with your objections to using it. But since you made the decision to purchase VP8, presumably you're confident it can meet even those objections, and using it on YouTube is a no-brainer."

A little more background
Flash and H.264: Together At Last

Friday, February 19, 2010

2010 — the Year AACS and HDMI Kill Off HD Component Video

 From Slashdot:
2010 — the Year AACS and HDMI Kill Off HD Component Video

For home theater buffs who want (or already have) a high-def system using component-video connections, time may be growing short. Audiofan writes with this story, which begins: "Digital HD (high definition), like that enabled through HDMI and Blu-ray, is awesome. It offers amazing picture and audio quality. It allows you to conveniently connect one single cable to provide both picture and sound. It is royally going to screw up a lot of homes next year. Wait, what was that last part? After December 31, 2010, manufacturers will not be 'allowed' [to] introduce new hardware with component video outputs supplying more than an SD resolution (480i or 576i). Should this go through as planned, it's going to disable or throw a wrench in a lot of existing custom installations as soon as the end of this year." The AACS in the headline stands for Advanced Access Content System, the industry scheme to block "the analog hole" by controlling content from storage media to eyeballs.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Unplugging the cable articles coming.

Just saw a great movie "Chandni Chowk to China". It's a Bollywood Kung Fu movie. It was available on blockbuster streaming to by Samsung BD-P3600 BlueRay player. I plan to write a series of Articles on how and why I unplugged my family from Television to go to 100% Internet video and what the experience has been like...

For starters it's good to finally get the full 1080p video experience.

DSLR to shoot video

If you're a photographer or videographer who uses (or wants to use) a DSLR to shoot video, register for a Las Vegas workshop for hands-on, small group instruction. Registration closes by Feb 26, 2010 http://www.dslrcinemaworkshop.com

Adobe’s Plan To Deliver Apps Across All Mobile Devices

http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/14/air-android/

HTML5 Video comming fast

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/02/15/2010230/Five-Years-of-YouTube-and-Forced-Evolution

Five Years of YouTube and Forced Evolution on

NakNak writes to mention that the DailyMaverick has a feature looking back at five years of YouTube, some of the massive changes that have been forced through as a result of its overwhelming popularity, and what changes might be necessary going forward. "Google, which bought YouTube less than two years after it was founded for what was then considered outrageously expensive $1.65 billion, does not want Microsoft or Apple (or anybody else) to own the dominant video format. So it has become the biggest early tester of HTML5. Your browser doesn't support HTML5? Google launches its own browser, Chrome. Need to use Internet Explorer at work because that's all your IT department supports? Google launches a Chrome framework that effectively subverts IE and makes it HTML5-compatible. The final blow will be the day that YouTube switches off Flash and starts streaming only to HTML5 browsers. On that day all browsers will be HTML5 compatible or they will perish in the flames of user outrage."