

Google Acquires Video Compression Company for $106.5 Million - transburgh
http://mashable.com/2009/08/05/google-on2/

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st3fan
Does this means the codec-wars are back? But this time not between Apple and
Microsoft but between Apple and Google maybe?

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ZeroGravitas
Yes, but it's not Apple versus Google, it's royalty-bearing standard from
MPEG-LA versus non-royalty bearing standard from Google.

Since Apple has argued repeatedly and publicly with the MPEG-LA to liberalize
their royalty rates for viewers and smaller users it's not certain they'll
stick with the H.264 Camp despite their hardware commitment, their patent
involvment, it's head start and its small technical advantage.

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eggnet
It sounds like you are thinking of VP6, not VP8 which On2 also owns. VP8 is
apparently better than H.264. There is also reason to believe Google won't
stop there. Spending $2 million per day:

[http://pulse2.com/2009/04/14/google-spending-
about-2-million...](http://pulse2.com/2009/04/14/google-spending-
about-2-million-per-day-to-run-youtube/)

Bandwidth has to be a significant chunk of that, there is a tremendous amount
of money to be saved by using more efficient video codecs. They will probably
use the On2 team to invent even better codecs and open them up as well.

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ZeroGravitas
I've not yet seen any credible source claim that VP8 is better than H.264.

Claiming your codecs is better than H.264 seems to be standard operating
procedure for codecs since it's currently the gold standard. (You'll know VP8
is the best when all the other codecs compare themselves to it!) But these
claims are either just blatant PR BS or like On2 you make some very specific
claims. If you read what they actually say it appears they think VP8 is
"better" than H.264 when you also consider licensing.

Now I personally think that's very valid, as any royalty free codec that
Google releases from this purchase will have a big advantage due to it's
licensing, and that will make it "better" for many purposes. But it's not what
codec nerds mean by "better".

Personally I agree with your point about codec improvements and think that
Google should get something out fast based on what they've bought, but they
should also be looking for defectors from MPEG-LA to work on a next-gen
royalty free codec by pooling a bunch of patents and expertise. It seems MPEG-
LA has either been mismanaged or has fallen victim to internal politics so
there's been plenty of unrest over the years.

Sun had some patents it was going to use in a royalty free codec called OMS
and they're already licencing VP6 for JavaFX so that's a good place to start.

