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Ogg Theora Alpha 2 Released

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the its-like-ogg-but-for-video-dude dept.

An anonymouse reader writes "After almost seven months, another alpha release of Ogg Theora is finally out. Still not production ready, but it's certainly showing some progress." The world needs a free video codec. Looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

7 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. release by frieked · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yeah, it was supposed to go beta 2-3 months ago...:
    Ogg Theora was scheduled to go Beta (that means the bitstream is locked down, and all features are represented) in March of 2003. Obviously, that's slipped. Alpha 2 is going to be released shortly; but please remember that until Beta, there is no promise that files you encode will be supported in the final release.

    But when will Theora be done you ask?

    From the site: We nominally expect to be finished by the end of 2003. VP3 is a very mature video codec, so most of our effort is going into the Theora project.

    --

    I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
    -Xenocrates
  2. Re:Open source porn by Herg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just a friendly reminder, you don't get the bonus karma unless you spell it 'pr0n'.

  3. XviD? by Kopasape · · Score: 5, Informative

    "The world needs a free video codec."!?

    What about XviD?

    "XviD is Free Software (licensed under the GNU GPL), open to all contributions, its only aim is to stick to standard compliance."

    http://www.xvid.org

    1. Re:XviD? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      What about XviD?

      Because XviD, as an MPEG-4 implementation, uses patented algorithms. It doesn't matter how free the code is if you need a license to be allowed to compile and run it.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:XviD? by fobbman · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe Taco will make reference to that project in the repost.

  4. Part of a live ISO PVR? by timothy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not that the video codec is the only important part of this, but the fact that unlike most, Ogg Theora is completely free of patent / royalty issues.

    Imagine (it's not a great stretch anymore, though it might have been a few years ago) being able to assemble a box with a hard drive, motherboard, memory, then popping in a CD ala Knoppix or Gentoo Live, and BOOM there's a DVR. Movix is one side of the instant multi-media computer, but does not offer capture / record functions.

    Built-to-purpose, such a computer ought to have a TV-out (and the live ISO would have to support it ;) -- including well-designed menus like the ones for freevo and mythTV, suitable for low-res TV screens -- so it could be used without a conventional monitor attached).

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:Part of a live ISO PVR? by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Informative

      You want real time encoding, live guide features, ability to pause live tv, automated recordings, a unified enironment for MAME, DivX, DVD, MP3, Slideshows, and web browsing? What about the ability to control and schedule recodings via a web interface? Or the ability to edit recorded programs on the fly to remove commercials etc? What about automated DVD / DivX description info from IMDB as soon as you load it up to play? Oh, plus picture in pucture, and the ability to distribute the encoding load across as many machines as you want..

      Look no further than MythTV. It's only been in development for a year and it has all this and more. IMO this is the most under-celebrated open source project there is. Its amazing, makes Windows Media Center look like a hunk of garbage.