VP8

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VP8
Developed by Google
Initial release 2008-09-13
Type of format Compressed video
Contained by WebM, Matroska
Extended from VP7
Standard(s) No
Open format? Yes (specification under CC Attribution[1])
libvpx (VP8 codec library)[2][3][4]
Developer(s) Google
Initial release May 18, 2010
Stable release 1.0.0 / January 27, 2012; 28 days ago (2012-01-27)
Development status Active
Written in C
Operating system Unix-like (including GNU/Linux, Mac OS X), Windows
Type Video codec
License New BSD license[5]
Website webmproject.org

VP8 is an open video compression format created by On2 Technologies, which was bought by Google in 2010.

In May 2010, after the purchase, Google provided an almost irrevocable patent promise on its patents for implementing the VP8 format, and released a specification of the format under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.[6] Google also released in 2010 libvpx, the reference implementation of VP8, under a BSD license.[7]

Contents

[edit] History

VP8 was released by On2 Technologies on September 13, 2008, replacing its predecessor, VP7.[8][9]

Google acquired On2 in 2010.[10] There were calls for Google to release the VP8 source code, notably from the Free Software Foundation, which issued an open letter on March 12, 2010, asking Google to gradually replace the usage of the Adobe Flash Player and H.264 on YouTube with a mixture of HTML5 and a freed VP8.[11]

On May 19, 2010, at its Google I/O conference, Google released the VP8 codec software under a BSD-like license and the VP8 bitstream format specification under an almost irrevocable free patent license[12][13][14]. This made VP8 the second product from On2 Technologies to be opened, following the older VP3 codec in 2002. VP3 was later donated to the Xiph.Org Foundation[15], and is the basis of the Theora codec.

In June 2010, Google released the VP8 codec software under the 3-clause BSD license[5][7][16] after some contention over whether the original license was actually open-source.[17][18][19]

In November 2011, the Internet Engineering Task Force published the informational RFC 6386, VP8 Data Format and Decoding Guide.[20]

[edit] Implementations

[edit] Encoding

Currently, libvpx is the only software library capable of encoding VP8 video streams.[21] A new VP8 encoder based on the x264 framework is under development. Google hired Ronald Bultje, an FFmpeg developer, for a year to work on the project. The name of the new project will be xvp8 and it will be internally integrated into x264.[22] The WebM Project hardware team in Finland released an RTL hardware encoder for VP8 that is available at no cost for semiconductor manufacturers.[23][24]

The libvpx encoder has been found to be very slow compared to common H.264 encoders and has been found to use up to 213% more data for the same quality video during a comparison in May 2011.[25]

A Video for Windows wrapper of the VP8 codec based on the Google VP8 library (FourCC: VP80) is available.[26]

[edit] Decoding

libvpx is capable of decoding VP8 video streams.[27] On July 23, 2010, Jason Garrett-Glaser, Ronald Bultje, and David Conrad of the FFmpeg Team announced the ffvp8 decoder. Through testing they determined that ffvp8 was faster than Google's own libvpx decoder.[28] The WebM Project hardware team released an RTL hardware decoder for VP8, that is releasable to semiconductor companies at zero cost.[29][30] TATVIK Technologies announced a VP8 decoder that is optimized for the ARM Cortex-A8 processor.[31]

[edit] Related formats

[edit] WebM

Main article: WebM

Also on May 19, 2010, the WebM Project was launched, featuring contributions from "Mozilla,[32] Opera,[33][34] Google[35] and more than forty other publishers, software and hardware vendors" in a major effort to use VP8 as the video format for HTML5.[36] In the WebM container format, the VP8 video is used with Vorbis audio.[37][38] Internet Explorer 9 will support VP8 video playback if the proper codec is installed.[39] Android is WebM-enabled from version 2.3 - Gingerbread.[40] Adobe also announced that the Flash Player will support VP8 playback in a future release.[41]

[edit] WebP

Main article: WebP

On September 30, 2010 Google announced WebP, their new image format, on the Chromium blog.[42] WebP is based on VP8's intra-frame coding and uses a container based on Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF).

[edit] Comparison with H.264

H.264 contains patented technology and requires licenses and limited royalties for hardware. VP8 has a free patent license from Google[43] however in july 2011 the MPEG LA claimed that 12 holders of essential patents for the VP8 format had responded to a call by MPEG-LA to form a patentpool for those patents on VP8 [44].

According to a comparison of VP8 (encoded with the initial release of libvpx) and H.264 conducted by StreamingMedia, it was concluded that "H.264 may have a slight quality advantage, but it's not commercially relevant" and that "Even watching side-by-side (which no viewer ever does), very few viewers could tell the difference". They also stated that "H.264 has an implementation advantage, not a technology advantage."[45]

Despite Google's statement that VP8 offers the "highest quality real-time video delivery",[46] a review conducted in May 2010 concluded that H.264 offers slightly better quality than VP8.[47] Libvpx does, however, have a mode where the maximum CPU resources possible will be used while still keeping the encoding speed almost exactly equivalent to the playback speed (realtime), keeping the quality as high as possible without lag.

In late 2010 Jason Garrett-Glaser, a developer of the x264 encoder, gave several points of criticism for VP8, contending that it had no real specification, and that it was lacking in several areas.[48][49]

Although Google has almost irrevocably released all of its patents on VP8 as a royalty-free format,[50] the MPEG LA, licensors of the H.264 patent pool, have expressed interest in creating a patent pool for VP8.[51][52] Conversely, other researchers cite evidence that On2 made a particular effort to avoid any MPEG LA patents.[53] As a result of the MPEG-LA threat the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has started an investigation into the MPEG LA for its role in possibly attempting to stifle competition.[54][55]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "VP8 Bitstream Specification License". WebM Project. http://www.webmproject.org/license/bitstream/. Retrieved 30 January 2012. 
  2. ^ "WebM Code - Build Prerequisites". http://www.webmproject.org/code/build-prerequisites/. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
  3. ^ "WebM Downloads". http://code.google.com/p/webm/downloads/list. Retrieved 2010-11-01. 
  4. ^ "WebM Code > Repository Layout". http://www.webmproject.org/code/repository-layout/. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
  5. ^ a b "Software License". http://www.webmproject.org/license/software/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  6. ^ VP8 Bitstream Specification License
  7. ^ a b "Changes to the WebM Open Source License". http://webmproject.blogspot.com/2010/06/changes-to-webm-open-source-license.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  8. ^ Glen Dickson (2008-09-16). "IBC2008: On2 Touts New Codec for Web Video". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/115438-IBC2008_On2_Touts_New_Codec_for_Web_Video.php. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
  9. ^ On2 Technologies (2008-09-13). "On2 Technologies Unveils New Advanced Video Compression Format". Digital TV. http://www.digitaltvnews.net/content/?p=3880. Retrieved 2012-01-30. 
  10. ^ http://investor.google.com/releases/20100219.html
  11. ^ Wilson, Holmes (2010-03-12), Open letter to Google: free VP8, and use it on YouTube, Free Software Foundation, http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/google-free-on2-vp8-for-youtube 
  12. ^ "Additional IP Rights Grant (Patents)". http://www.webmproject.org/license/additional/. Retrieved 2010-06-04. 
  13. ^ http://www.webmproject.org/license/
  14. ^ Parr, Ben (2010-05-19), Google Makes Major Announcements at Google I/O, mashable.com, http://mashable.com/2010/05/19/live-google-makes-major-announcements-at-google-io/ 
  15. ^ The Free Library (2002-08-01) On2 Signs Pact With Xiph.org to Develop/Support VP3, Retrieved on 2009-08-16
  16. ^ Koleszar, John (2010-06-04). "LICENSE: update with latest text". WebM VCS repository. http://git.chromium.org/gitweb/?p=webm/libvpx.git;a=commit;h=09202d80716ef7e2931de60c66b6fb2383f52613. 
  17. ^ Kerner, Sean Michael (2010-05-25), Is VP8 open source?, InternetNews, http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2010/05/is-vp8-open-source.html 
  18. ^ Metz, Cade (2010-05-24), Google open codec 'not open,' says OSI man, The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/24/osi_board_member_on_google_webm/ 
  19. ^ Phipps, Simon (2010-05-24), WebM: Missing The Assurances Open Source Needs?, ComputerworldUK, http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2973 
  20. ^ "RFC 6386". Internet Engineering Task Force. 2011-11-01. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=VP8&action=submit. Retrieved 29 January 2012. 
  21. ^ VP8 SDK - WebM VP8 Encoder, WebM Project, http://www.webmproject.org/tools/vp8-sdk/group__vp8__encoder.html 
  22. ^ Hacker News: In #ffmpeg on freenode, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2095083 
  23. ^ Introducing "Anthill," the First VP8 Hardware Encoder IP Release, WebM Project, http://blog.webmproject.org/2011/03/introducing-anthill-first-vp8-hardware.html 
  24. ^ WebM Video Hardware RTLs - WebM Video Encoder Hardware IP, WebM Project, http://www.webmproject.org/hardware/#webm_video_encoder_hardware_ip 
  25. ^ "Seventh MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Video Codecs Comparison - Standard Version". MSU Graphics & Media Lab (Video Group). May 2011. http://www.compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/h264_2011/mpeg-4_avc_h264_video_codecs_comparison.pdf. 
  26. ^ "Google VP8 Video For Windows codec". Optima SC Inc. http://www.optimasc.com/products/vp8vfw/index.html. Retrieved 2 September 2011. 
  27. ^ VP8 SDK - WebM VP8 Decoder, WebM Project, http://www.webmproject.org/tools/vp8-sdk/group__vp8__decoder.html 
  28. ^ Garrett-Glaser, Jason (2010-07-23), Diary Of An x264 Developer: Announcing the world's fastest VP8 decoder, http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=499 
  29. ^ Availability of WebM (VP8) Video Hardware IP Designs, WebM Project, http://blog.webmproject.org/2011/01/availability-of-webm-vp8-video-hardware.html 
  30. ^ WebM Video Hardware RTLs - WebM Video Decoder Hardware IP, WebM Project, http://www.webmproject.org/hardware/#webm_video_decoder_hardware_ip 
  31. ^ Tatvik Announces High Performance VP8 Video Decoder Optimized For Cortex-A8 Using ARM NEON Technology, tatvik.com, 2011-03-09, http://www.tatvik.com/news_9_3_2011.html 
  32. ^ Blizzard, Christopher (2010-05-19), Firefox, YouTube and WebM, Mozilla, http://hacks.mozilla.org/2010/05/firefox-youtube-and-webm/ 
  33. ^ Lie, Håkon Wium (2010-05-19), Welcome, WebM <video>!, Opera, http://labs.opera.com/news/2010/05/19/ 
  34. ^ Mills, Chris (2010-05-19), Opera supports the WebM video format, Opera, http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/opera-supports-webm-video/ 
  35. ^ Bankoski, Jim (2010-05-19), WebM and VP8 land in Chromium, Google, http://blog.chromium.org/2010/05/webm-and-vp8-land-in-chromium.html 
  36. ^ Build Prerequisites, WebM Project, http://www.webmproject.org/code/build-prerequisites/ 
  37. ^ Xiph.Org (2010-05-19). "Xiph.Org announces support for the WebM open media project". http://www.xiph.org/press/2010/webm/. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  38. ^ WebM Project (2010-05-19). "WebM FAQ". http://www.webmproject.org/about/faq/. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  39. ^ Hachamovitch, Dean (2010-05-19). "Another Follow-up on HTML5 Video in IE9". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft. http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2010/05/19/another-follow-up-on-html5-video-in-ie9.aspx. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
  40. ^ "The platform now offers built-in support for the VP8 open video compression format and the WebM open container format.". Android Developers. http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3-highlights.html. Retrieved 16 January 2011. 
  41. ^ Perkins, Michelle (2010-05-19), Flash Player Will Support VP8, Adobe, http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplatform/2010/05/adobe_support_for_vp8.html 
  42. ^ Rabbat, Richard (2010-09-30). "WebP, a new image format for the Web". Chromium Blog. Google. http://blog.chromium.org/2010/09/webp-new-image-format-for-web.html. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
  43. ^ Google. "Additional IP Rights Grant (Patents)". Google. http://www.webmproject.org/license/additional/. 
  44. ^ Jan Ozer (2011-07-26). "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". StreamingMedia.com. http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Featured-News/WebM-Patent-Fight-Ahead-for-Google-76781.aspx. 
  45. ^ Ozer, Jan (2010). "VP8 vs. H.264". streamingmedia.com. http://www.streamingmedia.com/conferences/west2010/presentations/SMWest-2010-H264-VP8.pdf. Retrieved 2011-03-08. 
  46. ^ "Benefits of WebM". Google. http://www.webmproject.org/about/. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  47. ^ "First Look: H.264 and VP8 Compared". streamingmedia.com. http://www.streamingmedia.com/articles/editorial/featured-articles/first-look-h.264-and-vp8-compared-67266.aspx. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  48. ^ Garrett-Glaser, Jason (2010-07-13). "First Look: H.264 and VP8 Compared". Diary Of An x264 Developer. http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/archives/486#more-486. Retrieved 2011-02-13. "I expect a spec will eventually be written, but it was a bit obnoxious of Google — both to the community and to their own developers — to release so early that they didn't even have their own documentation ready." 
  49. ^ Garrett-Glaser, Jason (2010-05-19). "The first in-depth technical analysis of VP8". Diary Of An x264 Developer. http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/archives/377. Retrieved 2011-02-13. "Overall, VP8 appears to be significantly weaker than H.264 compression-wise" 
  50. ^ Metz, Cade (20 May 2010), Google backs open codec against patent trolls, The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/20/google_confident_on_vp8_and_patents/ 
  51. ^ Metz, Cade (21 May 2010), Google open video codec may face patent clash, The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/21/mpegla_mulls_patent_license_for_webm/ 
  52. ^ Fulton, Scott M. (21 May 2010), Patent pool may be in the works for 'free' VP8 codec, Betanews, http://www.betanews.com/article/Patent-pool-may-be-in-the-works-for-free-VP8-codec/1274466745 
  53. ^ Daffara, Carlo (25 May 2010), An analysis of WebM and its patent risk, carlodaffara.conecta.it, http://carlodaffara.conecta.it/?p=420 
  54. ^ Catan, Thomas (4 March 2011), Web Video Rivalry Sparks U.S. Probe, The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703752404576178833590548792.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5 
  55. ^ Cheng, Jacqui (4 March 2011). "Report: DoJ looking into possible anti-WebM moves by MPEG LA". Ars Technica. Condé Nast Digital. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/report-doj-looking-into-possible-anti-webm-moves-by-mpeg-la.ars. Retrieved 8 March 2011. 

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