ON2 SIGNS PACT WITH XIPH.ORG TO DEVELOP/SUPPORT VP3.
On2 Technologies Inc., The Duck Corporation (AMEX:ONT), an industry leader in compression technology, has entered into an agreement with the Xiph.Org Foundation, developers of Vorbis, the popular open-source audio codec, to be the prime source of support, distribution, and further development of VP3.In addition, with On2's support, Xiph will integrate VP3 into their Ogg Multimedia Framework, providing a full-featured, open-source, royalty-free alternative to expensive solutions such as MPEG-4.
On2's VP3.2 video compression technology is the world's most efficient, open source video codec available. VP3 allows for high-quality video at the lowest possible data rates while still retaining the video's full frame-rate. The power of this codec is validated by the fact that it is available in Internet video players made by Apple and RealNetworks.
Vorbis is the first of a family of Ogg multimedia coding formats offered by the Xiph.Org Foundation, a company devoted to creating and maintaining open standards in multimedia. Vorbis is a fully open, non-proprietary, patent-and- royalty-free, general-purpose compressed audio format for mid to high quality audio applications.
"This is the first full multimedia platform available to the open source community. In December, VP3 was recognized as having the potential to become 'the MP3 of video' on Intel's website, and that potential will be enhanced by combining with an audio codec of great power and range, like Vorbis. Additionally, having TrueCast 5, its corresponding video player and On2's VPVision Personal Video Recorder (PVR) application makes this a turnkey solution. This makes multimedia work FREE of the licensing fees that have plagued the MPEG-4 initiative," said Douglas A. McIntyre, president and CEO of On2 Technologies.
"Of course, there's a lot more to it than killing off the license fees," said Xiph.org Foundation CEO Emmett Plant, "It's also about giving people the ability to download, modify and distribute the VP3 source code with wild abandon. We're extremely happy to be working with On2 on this project. We're not just developing a great multimedia platform, we're doing it in a way that will satisfy and empower the open source community."
VP3 has been available to the open-source community since September, 2001, and over 20,000 companies and software developers have registered to download the license and source code. In the same amount of time, Ogg Vorbis has been downloaded over 250,000 times.
"The integrated solution with Xiph combines the premiere open-source audio and video technologies. Xiph will take over primary responsibility for continued development and improvement of the multimedia open-source project, and On2 will have an arms-length relationship with a trusted organization that has very strong credibility in open-source development," said Dan Miller, On2 Technologies founder and CTO. "We think this is the next step in seeing VP3 and Vorbis propagate as widely used formats for the distribution of digitally encoded multimedia content."
About On2 Technologies, The Duck Corporation
On2 Technologies (AMEX:ONT) is a leading technology firm at the forefront of video compression. The company revolutionized video encoding with the creation of its advanced full-motion, full-screen, video compression and streaming technology (TrueMotion(R) VP3/VP4/VP5). On2 licenses its high quality video codecs for use in set-top boxes, consumer electronics devices and wireless applications. In addition, On2 offers a suite of products and services, including high-level video encoding, customized technical support, and consulting services. Headquartered in New York City, the company has an office in Albany, NY, and operations in London, UK, and Seoul, Korea.
For more information, call 917-237-0500 or visit http://www.on2.com.
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| Publication: | Multimedia Publisher |
|---|---|
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Aug 1, 2002 |
| Words: | 584 |
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