Summary of Google's movie format "WebM" targeting HTML5 standards so far

High image quality and high compression "H.264Is on the leading position of the video format, but it is the next generation web formatHTML5In H.264, what is expected as a leading role is Google's developed "WebM"is. I summarized the past trend of WebM and the dispute over the future video standard standard.

Google builds WebM patent pool its own to fight back against against MPEG-LA | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/business/2011/04/google-builds-webm-patent-pool-of-its-own-to-fight-back-against-mpeg-la/

Google and MPEG LA Announce Agreement Covering VP8 Video Format | Business Wire
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130307006192/en/Google-MPEG-LA-Announce-Agreement-Covering-VP8

WebM is a video container format for the web that realizes high image quality and high compression ratio, developed in anticipation of use by Google on HTML5 which is the next generation web standard. On video codecVP8/VP9, To voice codecVorbis, In the media containerMatroskaWebM adopting it is a major feature that it is open and royalty free.

On the current website you can play videos using plugins such as Flash and Silverlight, but plugin is no longer needed in HTML 5, and using a new tag called "video tag" web browser alone Movie playback becomes possible. It is HTML 5 which makes playback of movies unnecessary because plug-in is unnecessary, but since the support of video codec is indispensable for web browsers, which video codec will become the standard is not only web developers, It is supposed to attract a great deal of attention from the whole.

ByDavid Martyn Hunt

Currently, H.264 (MPEG-4) is the most widespread as a format of high quality and high compression ratio, but H.264 standards include IT such as Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft etc. There is a problem that licensing fees arise due to the inclusion of patents owned by companies. Therefore, Web browsers such as Firefox and Opera do not support H.264.

Although H.264 launched a royalty-free policy for online video distribution, the license fee generated by the adoption of H.264 for hardware developers, OS, applications and other software developers is not a little burdens, especially the startup For companies, license fees were a major problem.

For this reason, it was the WebM developed by Google that I spent waiting for H.264 trying to become the HTML 5 standard. Google has launched a policy to acquire On2 Technologies, which is developing a video codec "VP 8", to publish a container WebM adopting VP 8 and provide it royalty-free.

ByTsahi Levent-Levi

However, the H.264 camp is not going to overlook Google silent on the HTML 5 video standards, and will manage the H.264 patent relationshipMPEG LA, Google VP8 will include a patented technology of H.264 and we will set out to file a lawsuit that the use of WebM is a patent infringement. Developers and service providers using WebM will not be required to pay a usage fee from Google for the use of WebM itself, but if VP 8 violates H.264 patent rights as claimed by MPEG LA , There is a possibility that MPEG LA can be sued by using WebM, so it is inevitable to hesitate to use WebM in front of such potential risk.

There is also a skeptical view on WebM as to whether the new WebM standard will become widespread even though there is H.264 already established as the de facto standard of the high-definition movie format, and WebM will spread at a stretch There was nothing.

Meanwhile, Google announced a policy to convert all newly uploaded videos to YouTube in 2011, convert it to WebM format for existing videos, Google Chrome from Google web browser, of course H Major browsers such as Firefox and Opera that do not support .264 have also expressed official support for WebM. Over the adoption of WebM, H.264 camps such as Apple and Microsoft will compete with Google's WebM camp.

ByWebtreats

After that, Google and MPEG LA established the agreement "in March 2013 to offer a license of H.264 technical patents that VP 8 conflicts", and the risk that it will be clear and clear the appeal of patent infringement by using WebM will be solved became. Thus, thanks to the resolution of the patent problem, the H.264 camp and the WebM camp have to contest HTML5 standards on the same field.

At the moment, it seems likely that the H.264 camp which is already overwhelmingly dominating in video recorders and smartphone movies etc. is the de facto standard of HTML5. However, the real fight on the stage called HTML 5 is the next generation standard of H.264 / VP 8H.265·VP9It is easy to imagine becoming. If VP 9 can overwhelm H.265 in terms of high image quality, high compression and lightness of decoding, it is not dreamed that the video format will become WebM all over.

Bulletin board that can post videos / photos4ch officially announced support for WebMAs we are beginning to see signs of making full use of WebM compliance, etc., the conflict over standards of the next generation video format seems to heat up more and more.