mpeg

MPEG LA, an organization that licenses digital video technology patents on behalf of their owners, has announced terms for using a 3D video encoding technology called MVC.

MVC (Multiview Video Coding) is used in Blu-ray disc players, personal computers, video cameras, software, and other situations calling for 3D video. It's what's known as a codec, a specification for encoding and decoding video so it can be stored more compactly or streamed more efficiently across networks.

MPEG LA debuted the MVC license agreement terms at the Asia-Pacific 3D Standards & IP (Intellectual Property) Forum in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. … Read more

Wondershare's Video Converter Ultimate is, as its name suggests, the ultimate video utility for Windows users. But more than just a file converter, the program is a DVD ripper, DVD burner, Web video downloader, 2D-to-3D converter, audio ripper, and even a bare-bones video editor.

It's interface is simple and straightforward, as it has all the major functions laid out as icons along the top of the window. All of the controls are intuitive, and it even lets you drag-and-drop video files.

For the most part, Video Converter Ultimate performs exceptionally well. Exactly as advertised, it lets you quickly … Read more

Twelve organizations have concluded that Google's VP8 video encoding technology violates their patents, according to a group called MPEG LA that's considering offering a license to those patents.

"Patents owned by 12 different patent holders have already been found to be essential to VP8," MPEG LA said in a statement to CNET yesterday.

This is a concrete data point in a debate that's lasted more than a year so far about how safe Google's technology is to use without fear of infringement litigation. Previously, MPEG LA had only offered the more limited statement that … Read more

YouTube Downloader is a popular, free program that enables you to download and convert online videos (legal content, to which you have the rights) for later viewing on your desktop or mobile device. It can convert files to MOV, MP4, 3GP, WMV, AVI, or MP3.

The name "YouTube Downloader" is terribly misleading because the program, in fact, downloads a whole lot more than just YouTube videos. On the developer's site, you can find an extensive list of additional supported sites including Facebook and Vimeo. This wide net of support easily pushes YouTube Downloader to the top of … Read more

Burning your videos to DVDs is easy, right? You just convert them to a compatible format, create an ISO image, and... wait! Don't go: we found a program that actually gets your saved videos from your computer to DVDs without an engineering degree. You can watch the DVDs it creates on any DVD player. And you don't have to burn them to disks to enjoy the files ConvertXtoDVD creates; you can watch them just like DVDs on your computer. VSO ConvertXtoDVD automatically adds chapters, menus, play buttons, and other DVD features.

ConvertXtoDVD's compact console holds a tree … Read more

A serious complication has just emerged for Google's plan for high-quality, patent-free, open-source video on the Web--but Google also revealed plans today to try to counteract it.

MPEG LA, an organization that licenses video-related patents related to a variety of standards, has formally requested for patent owners to inform them of patents they believe Google's VP8 technology uses.

In "offer[ing] to facilitate development of a joint license to provide coverage under essential patents," MPEG LA is taking a major step toward actually offering such a license.

That might reassure some players who are interested in … Read more

Choosing strategies based on what you believe to be long-term benefits is generally a good idea when running a business, but if you manage to alienate the world in the process, the long term may become irrelevant.

It was hard to miss the response that accompanied Google's announcement earlier this week that it no longer planned to support the H.264 codec for the HTML5 video tag in its Chrome browser in order to focus on the WebM technology. Depending on what you read, Google is either evil, brilliant, hypocritical, cunning, principled, or confused in dropping support for H.264, … Read more

Google just fired a broadside in the Web's codec wars.

With its alternative WebM video-encoding technology now entering the marketplace, Google announced plans today to remove built-in Chrome support for a widely used rival codec called H.264 favored by Apple and Microsoft. The move places Google instead firmly in the camp of browser makers Mozilla and Opera, who ardently desire basic Web technologies to be unencumbered by patent restrictions.

"Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed … Read more

The group that licenses patents for the widely used H.264 video encoding and streaming technology has committed to charge no royalties ever for use by Web sites that use it for freely available video.

In February, the MPEG LA previously had declared free streaming wouldn't require royalty payments through December 31, 2015. On Thursday, it lifted that limit forever, a move that could remove some hesitation to use H.264, also known as AVC, on Web sites.

The move, although made earlier than the licensing group had to, isn't a major surprise. For one thing, adding a … Read more