IBC2008: On2 Touts New Codec For Web Video
Broadcasting & Cable | September 16, 2008
Compression supplier claims 50% improvement for bandwidth efficiency.
Compression supplier On2 Technologies released at IBC2008 the eighth generation of its Web-video codec, On2 VP8, which it said can deliver the same video quality in one-half the bandwidth of existing implementations of H.264 advanced video compression.
Clifton Park, N.Y.-based On2—which gained a significant foothold in Web video when its On2 VP6 codec was integrated into Adobe’s wildly popular Flash Player in 2005—said the VP8 was designed to deliver high video quality for popular TV content using mainstream computer processors.
Since the VP8 bit stream requires fewer processing cycles to decode, On2 chief technology officer Paul Wilkins said, consumers don’t need superpowered laptops or PCs to watch HD video on the Web.
One of the Web-video players that will adopt the new On2 codec is Move Networks, which provides a sophisticated client-server-based compression solution for high-quality Web video to major programmers like Disney, ESPN, Fox and The CW.