hellozhaoer
2010-05-20 00:12:46 UTC
Three weeks ago, Microsoft said Internet Explorer 9 would be supporting just one codec for HTML5 video. Apparently not, because on Wednesday Microsoft said IE9 will support another.
The next version of Microsoft's Web browser will support not only H.264 video for HTML5, but also the now-released and now-open-source VP8 video codec, Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Internet Explorer, wrote on The Windows Blog. The catch is that IE9 will come with H.264 support, whereas users will have to download a separate codec to watch VP8 videos.
From Hachamovitch's post:
Again, we want to be clear about our intent to support the same markup in the open and interoperable web. We are strongly committed to making sure that in IE9 you can safely view all types of content in all widely used formats. When it comes to video and HTML5, we're all in. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video as well as VP8 video when the user has installed a VP8 codec on Windows.
VP8 is an HTML5-supported video codec Google got last year when it acquired On2 Technologies, which also developed the popular VP6 codec. At its Google I/O conference Wednesday, Google announced that it has released the VP8 codec and that it is royalty-free.
The codec is part of a new "open Web media project" from Google called WebM. Currently in developer preview, WebM is backed by companies such as AMD, AMR, Broadcom, Logitech, Qualcomm, Skype, Texas Instruments and many others.
"We think this is fantastic," Encoding.com wrote on its blog. "The web thrives on open formats. As browsers adopt HTML5 for 'plugin-less' video consumption, WebM along with VP8 will be a great option as the default format.
"H.264 is a great technology but not royalty-free. VP6 is proprietary. Ogg Theora is royalty-free but a ten-year old technology. By offering a high-quality codec with no licensing fees, Google is helping to create a new and formidable player in the video format wars, and one likely to experience massive adoption. We know that Chrome, Mozilla, Opera and others will support WebM right out of the gates."
And soon, Internet Explorer 9 – sort of. After you download that plug-in.
The video-codec debate heated up last month after Apple CEO Steve Jobs went on a tirade against Adobe Flash and threw his company's weight behind H.264. Microsoft was criticized after Hachamovich wrote that IE9 would support only H.264 – Microsoft receives patent-licensing royalties from MPEG LA, the organization that controls the intellectual property rights for H.264.
It's way too soon to predict whether or how quickly VP8 will catch on as a popular video codec. H.264 is proven and established, but VP8 is royalty-free.
In this day of interoperability and the expanding popularity of open source –
From :http://www.zhaoer.cc/viewNews.action?newsDO.newsId=3835