Google Announces Open Source WebM Video Format for the Web

Google has announced WebM, a broadly backed open source media format for the web.

WebM includes:
● VP8, a high-quality video codec we are releasing today under a BSD-style, royalty-free license
● Vorbis, an already open source and broadly implemented audio codec
● a container format based on a subset of the Matroska media container

VP8 delivers high quality video while efficiently adapting to the varying processing and bandwidth conditions found on today’s broad range of web-connected devices. VP8's efficient bandwidth usage will mean lower serving costs for content publishers and high quality video for end-users. The codec's relative simplicity makes it easy to integrate into existing environments and requires less manual tuning to produce high quality results.

WebM has the support of Mozilla, Opera, Google, Adobe, and many others. Apple is not listed as a supporter. Neither is Microsoft. Currently, H.264 was in the running to become the standard video format for web use with only Mozilla refusing to support it (citing licensing issues).


Unfortunately this announcement may further the delay the standardizing of web video.

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