Google Chrome Browser dropping H.264 support
January 14, 2011 by John Messina 
On January 11, Google announced that Chrome’s HTML5 video support will change to match codecs supported by the open source Chromium project. Chrome will support the WebM (VP8) and Theora video codecs, and support for the H.264 codec will be removed to allow resources to focus on open codec technologies.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google will soon stop supporting the H.264 video codec in their Chrome browser and will support its own WebM and Ogg Theora technologies.
Google's announcement of their change from H.264 to WebM and Theora in the Chrome browser came in a post Tuesday on Google’s Chromium blog by product manager Mike Jazayeri. Jazayeri explained on the Chromium blog why Chrome will no longer support H.264:
“We expect even more rapid innovation in the web media platform in the coming year and are focusing our investments in those technologies that are developed and licensed based on open web principles. To that end, we are changing Chrome’s HTML5 support to make it consistent with the codecs already supported by the open Chromium project. Specifically, we are supporting the WebM (VP8) and Theora video codecs, and will consider adding support for other high-quality open codecs in the future. 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 towards completely open codec technologies.”
Since Google is developing the WebM technology, they can develop a good video standard using open source faster and better than a current standard video player can.
The problem with H.264 is that it cost money and the patents for the technologies in H.264 are held by 27 companies, including Apple and Microsoft and controlled by MPEG LA. This makes H.264 expensive for content owners and software makers.
Since Apple and Microsoft hold some of the patents for the H.264 technology and make money off the licensing fees, it’s in their best interest not to change the technology in their browsers.
There is however concerns that Apple and Microsoft’s lack of support for WebM may impact the Chrome browser. Since H.264 is so popular it’s going to force Chrome users to use Flash for video playback which sends the video to a flash player and encodes it as H.264 for playback.
It’s interesting to know that Google is dropping H.264 support but not Flash. This is because Adobe owns Flash and is also a WebM partner that will support WebM technologies inside Flash. This leaves Adobe siding with Google and their WebM technology.
More information: Chrome Blog
© 2010 PhysOrg.com
-
From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor,
28 comments
-
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments,
3 comments
-
SpaceX private rocket blasts off for space station (Update),
41 comments
-
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea,
30 comments
-
Scotland passes turbine test to harness tidal power,
40 comments
-
magnets or EMF in car bumpers to protect from fender bender
8 hours ago
-
length of wire in a coil of known dimensions?
May 25, 2012
-
India Engineering Powerhouse
May 25, 2012
-
electromagnet core dereference between hard and soft iron
May 25, 2012
-
Measuring water pressure in an open tank
May 24, 2012
-
Question from a non-engineer: Pulley Systems
May 24, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Engineering
More news stories
SpotterRF debuts Radar Backpack Kit (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- SpotterRF has announced a special radar backpack kit designed to enhance situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. The company says its special radar is designed for warfighters as part ...
Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation
5 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
6
|
Yahoo kills 'Livestand' just 6 months after debut
(AP) -- Yahoo is killing a tablet magazine called Livestand just six months its debut on the iPad.
20 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
Yahoo! ditches digital newsstand for iPads
Yahoo! shuttered its fledgling digital newsstand for iPads on Friday in what it said was the start of a product purge intended to make the floundering Internet pioneer more nimble.
21 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Facebook IPO debacle raises investor dander
The spate of complaints and investigations over the Facebook stock offering suggests big institutions had an edge over small investors, raising questions about the process.
22 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Shareholders vote to take China's Alibaba unit private
Minority shareholders of Alibaba.com on Friday voted in favour of a proposal by its parent Alibaba Group Holding to take the Hong Kong-listed online trading unit private, the company said.
22 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Australia hails surprise super-telescope decision
Australia has hailed a surprise decision giving it a role in a radio telescope project aimed at revolutionising astronomy, vowing to draw on its decades of experience in space science.
Astronomers seize last chance in lifetime for Venus Transit
Astronomers are gearing for one the rarest events in the Solar System: an alignment of Earth, Venus and the Sun that will not be seen for another 105 years.
SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say
SpaceX's Dragon cargo vessel smells like a new car, said astronauts at the International Space Station after opening the hatches Saturday following the spacecraft's landmark mission to the orbiting lab.
Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity
(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...
Thousands of shellfish found dead in Peru
Thousands of crustaceans were found dead off the coast of Lima following the mystery mass death of dolphins and pelicans, the Peruvian Navy said Friday.
Astronauts enter world's 1st private supply ship
(AP) -- Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship.
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (6)
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 3.5 / 5 (2)
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (6)
I'm a web developer and I won't be encoding anything in H.264. There's no benefit to me at all as a web developer to support that. I'm 100% for free, open standards like WebM and Theora and those are the ones I'll be supporting.
Of course, if anyone does continue to encode in H.264, they will, of course, require the use of flash by their users. I'll be glad when Flash is gone too.
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 4 / 5 (3)
Goodbye patent tax, we'll miss you.
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (4)
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Because you only stop and settle on one standard when you've got it perfect. We're a long way from perfect software so we must experiment,test, and improve. If you head in one direction, you may encounter a dead end.
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Jan 14, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Jan 15, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
and we all know who these companies are. Microsoft, Apple and the rest of them which are making oceans of money and slowing or preventing progress, or at least trying to.
Jan 15, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Jan 16, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
But isn't a comma missing from your last sentence? ("That won't be an ... then, will it?")
Jan 18, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Hmm. You must develop for sites that don't want millions of iPhone users to see any video. Maybe restaurant website clients, then? They seem to hate the idea of someone out on the town actually being able to view their menu by hiding all the content of their site behind garbage Flash animations.
Jan 19, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
There's no cost to distribute Flash content. HTML5 does not have any requirement to support any particular codec. HTML5 is codec agnostic.
Jan 19, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
www dvdtoiphone net / video-format html
As you can clearly see, the iPhone supports more than H.264.