CODEC's Explained!

Article Published by Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP

Popular Audio and Video Codec's...(Part 3)

For Part 2 of this article: click here

For Part 1 of this article: click here

 
Popular Audio Codec's

In this section, we will look at the popular audio codec's available today.

Windows Media Audio (WMA)

- Windows Media Audio 10 Professional - Currently offers the widest range of capabilities of any Windows Media audio codec. It can be used for mobile audio, all the way up to multi-channel playback.

- Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless - For use in local PC playback scenarios. This codec is a great codec to use for archiving CD collections.

- Windows Media Audio 9 - Used by content creators in most scenarios.

NB - All of the codec's listed here are available to users with Windows Media Player version 7.0 or later. If a new version of a codec is released, the Player automatically downloads the new version from the Microsoft Website.

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

- MP3 is an audio-specific format. The compression works by removing parts of sound that are deemed beyond what most people can hear. Therefore the MP3 file size will be smaller than the original. Most media players can play MP3 files.

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)

- Used in the following file formats: .m4a, .m4b, .m4p, .m4v, .m4r, .aac, .3gp, .mp4

- Is the default audio format (codec) used on Apple's iPhone, iPod, iTunes and is also the standard audio format for Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii

- There are different audio formats of AAC, for example AAC-LC and HE-AAC

- Mobile phones from manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, BenQ, Siemens and Philips support audio playback with AAC. For instance the file formats .m4a and .3gp are common

- The Sony Reader portable eBook plays M4A files containing AAC

- The Roku SoundBridge network audio player supports playback of AAC

- Almost all PC media players include built-in decoders for AAC playback

- Many major car stereo manufacturers offers models that will play back .m4a (AAC) files recorded onto CD. This includes Pioneer, Sony, Alpine, Kenwood, Clarion, Panasonic, and JVC


Dolby Digital (AC-3)

- Also called Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround AC-3 Digital, Dolby Stereo Digital and Dolby SR-Digital

Vorbis

- It is a free and open source, lossy audio codec intended to serve as a replacement for MP3. It is most commonly used in conjunction with the Ogg digital container and is therefore called Ogg Vorbis


Popular Video Codec's

In this section, we will look at the popular video codec's available today.

Windows Media Video (WMV)

- Windows Media Video 9 - Provides high-quality video for streaming and downloading

- Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile - This advanced “profile” of the WMV9 codec, supports interlaced content, and is transport-independent (e.g. broadcast infrastructures.) Content creators use this profile to deliver either progressive or interlaced content at quality levels but at low data rates

- Windows Media Video 9 Screen - For content that needs to be captured from the computer screen, e.g. software demo's

- Windows Media Video 9 VCM - For backward compatibility. This codec package also enables Windows Media Video (WMV) files based on Windows Media Format 9 Series to be played in Windows Media Player 6.4, in both ASF and AVI file containers

NB - All of the codec's listed here are available to users with Windows Media Player version 7.0 or later. If a new version of a codec is released, the Player automatically downloads the new version from the Microsoft Website.

H.263

- Most Flash Video (.FLV) content (as used on sites such as YouTube, Google Video, MySpace etc.) is encoded in this format, though some sites now use VP6 (a video codec developed by On2 Technologies), which is supported since Flash 8.
 
- There were further improvements to H.263 with H.263v2 and H.263v3

H.264 (Sometimes known as MPEG-4 Part 10)

- H.264 is the next-generation video compression technology (in the MPEG-4 standard), also known as MPEG-4 Part 10. H.264 can match the best possible MPEG-2 (found on today's DVDs) quality at up to half the data rate

- High Definition MPEG-2 content at 1920x1080 traditionally runs at 12-20 Mbps, while H.264 can deliver 1920x1080 content at 7-8 Mbps at the same or better quality

- H.264 is a mandatory codec for the next generation High Definition DVD formats: HD-DVD and Blu-ray

- H.264 is an open standard (does not belong to one company), so companies around the world can create products that will easily interoperate with one another

- H.264 playback is now part of Apple's QuickTime 7 player

- H.264 is built into the QuickTime media architecture just like other QuickTime video codecs. So application developers can use QuickTime APIs to add H.264 encoding and decoding capabilities to their software products

- H.264 playback is now enabled in the Adobe Flash Player since August 2007

- H.264 playback will be enabled in the new Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and applications developed with Adobe AIR software

- Many folks who work with online video are very excited about the incredible video quality that H.264 can provide

- H.264 playback will be enabled in the new Adobe Media Player. The software download enables higher quality Flash format playback and the ability to download and view videos offline


VC-1

- VC-1 is a video codec that has been implemented by Microsoft in its Windows Media Video 9 (WMV)

- As High Definition content grows online you will see more of VC-1 in 2008

- The VC-1 codec has been formally accepted by the SMPTE as a video standard after years of technical scrutiny by over 75 companies. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is the preeminent society of film and video experts, with members in 85 countries worldwide. The standards that SMPTE produces are widely used by professionals in the fields of video, motion pictures, and digital cinema

- Just like H.264, VC-1 is also a mandatory codec for the next generation High Definition DVD formats: HD-DVD and Blu-ray

- VC-1 has a lower hardware requirement for decoding videos for playback on the end users PC than H.264 does (for many hardware vendors this is a reason they are starting to use it)

- VC-1 is capable of delivering high-definition video at bit rates as low as 6 to 8 Mbps.

- Hardware supporting VC-1 includes next generation DVD players, set-top boxes, portable media devices, wireless phones, and more. Major industry players are selecting VC-1 for its scalability and quality.

- VC-1 is the HD codec used in Microsoft's Silverlight technology. Silverlight is a browser plug-in that allows web applications to provide features that browsers alone do not typically offer. These features include animation, vector graphics, and audio-video playback. It competes with products such as Adobe Flash and Apple QuickTime.


Popular Speech Codec's

In this section, we will look at the popular speech codec's available today.

Windows Media Speech (WMA)

For Part 2 of this article: click here

For Part 1 of this article: click here

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Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP
http://www.marcliron.com