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YouTube Hints At Support For Free/Open Formats With HTML5

shadowmage13 writes "After the recent post about YouTube, so many votes were put in for HTML5 using Free and Open formats that Google has already cleared them all out (to make space for others) and issued an official response (requires Google login): 'We've heard a lot of feedback around supporting HTML5 and are working hard to meet your request, so stay tuned. We'll be following up when we have more information. We're answering this idea now because there are so many similar HTML5 ideas and we want to give other ideas a chance to be seen.' Now all the top ideas are concerning copyright and DMCA abuse."

133 comments

  1. Well then... by nametaken · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's a more polite way to say, "be more like Vimeo"?

    1. Re:Well then... by stimpleton · · Score: 1

      Vimeo? So You Tube would use flash?

      From Vimeo:
      object class="swf_holder"type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" data="/moogaloop_local.swf?clip_id=7129398&server=vimeo.com&autoplay=0&fullscreen=1&show_portrait=0&show_title=0&show_byline=0&color=00ADEF&context=user:2433314&context_id=&hd_off=0&buildnum=32768"

      --

      In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
    2. Re:Well then... by geckipede · · Score: 4, Informative

      I would prefer "be less like vimeo" because the only difference between them that affects me is that the youtube player decodes video efficiently enough that my processor can handle it, and vimeo is a browser locking slideshow.

    3. Re:Well then... by davidphogan74 · · Score: 1

      Be less like Fark's arbitrary bannings?

    4. Re:Well then... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Get a newer computer.

      No, seriously, please do. What you're saying is akin to asking that new games don't get improved graphics etc. because your old box won't be able to handle it. It makes perfect sense from your point of view, but what's good for you is bad for everyone else and holds back progress.

      The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.

    5. Re:Well then... by LiquidFire_HK · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're ignoring devices like netbooks, smart phones, etc. You can't just expect everyone to buy an i7 and ignore the problem.

    6. Re:Well then... by geckipede · · Score: 1

      I already have several computers powerful enough to play vimeo video, but turning them on just for one clip isn't worth the effort when the same thing is usually available to see on youtube.

    7. Re:Well then... by Skapare · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Having a better box to get better stuff is always a good thing. But having to get a better box just for the same old stuff done poorly is always a stupid thing. Let me know when they have the latest dual-socket octo-core i7 processor with 64GB of RAM in a nice portable netbook form factor.

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    8. Re:Well then... by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Funny

      What's a more polite way to say, "be more like Vimeo"?

      Please be more like Vimeo

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    9. Re:Well then... by gedw99 · · Score: 3, Informative

      There are many reasons why this is happening:

      1. ACTA agreement and license fees are up for renewal.
      http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/FAQ.aspx
      All OEM product makers and content encoders are now waiting on the 2010 agreement from the mpegla licensing aggregation company . It will be stiff fees apparently, although not confirmed yet. What is even stranger is that we are now in 2010, and they have still not released the new licensing terms. Very weird; What are they waiting on i wonder ? Maybe ACTA resolution ?
      Most China OEMS don't pay the fees, and hence why ACTA is being "negotiated" so secretly also.
      http://www.eetasia.com/login.do?fromWhere=/ART_8800463180_499501_NT_5bb04467.HTM
      So this is a "double whammy" waiting to explode.

      2. There are many other codecs around to choose from and why not test the water for others.
      There is much discussion in this area. But its a chicken and Egg game.
      You can make a fantastic codec, but you gotta have GPU support, otherwise its pointless.
      See below for how this can happen in the Long Tail version.

      3. Google knows that its Chrome OS is reaching a tipping point where they need to decide how they will handle video - they need to resolve this and get their ducks in a row.
      They can do flash on ARM CPU now, but i am sure they wish they did not have to.
      And they also know that with JavaScript and HTML% coming through like a train, Flash days are definitely numbered. See Sproutcore JavaScript framework for example of one of the many "flash replacements".
      And they have OpenGL covered with O3D and WebGl also moving forward very fast now with working implementations and even content conversion thinks to the Collada Open 3d format specification not fully entrenched.

      they can do NACL (NativeClient), and have already implemented a NACL c language h264 decoder. This was one of the first libraries they did !!
      Native Client FAQ: http://code.google.com/p/nativeclient/wiki/FAQ
      H264 Implementation: http://geekglue.blogspot.com/2008/12/google-native-client.html

      So the cards on the table are all congealing based on the above factors, and its a good time for Google to see where the cards fall for them and their various business models.
      So, why not ask the users too.

      I think it will come down to the h264 licensing terms to be released, and the ability for GPU's and embedded GPUs to handle video decoding.

    10. Re:Well then... by gedw99 · · Score: 1

      LONG TAIL version of what could happen

      On the Long Tail, what we REALLY need is the open codecs to be built into the GPS for encoding and decoding.
      Now with the purchase on ON2, Google will essentially have purchased patent power. This is the main thing.
      So Google will potentially be pushing to get a GPU manufacturer to implement a non patented codec into GPU, and use it for their Google Chrome OS ?
      Very similar business play to what they did with the Google Nexus Mobile phone. Work with the Hardware guys and supply the software, legal housing and OEM sales volume to make it all a sensible ROI for the hardware makers like HTC. Oh, and get the bandwidth providers to suck it up too _ Telecos are really just getting in the way, and the release of the Google Nexus is testament to this view that Google clearly has.

      Of course, this does not make sense for the purchase of the ON2, so the really long tail prediction, would be that with the patent and intellectual property, Google would make their own video / audio codec, make it open, and make the GPU hardware (with an OEM of course). With ON2 patent, they can isolate a patent war (MAD - mutally assured destruction), and protect the open codec they made.
      Eventually, as critical mass of potential unit sales took over, most of the other GPU manufacturers would also implement the open patent codec.

    11. Re:Well then... by gedw99 · · Score: 1

      This is the proposal from Google as part of their "Long Tail" requirements

      This allows native code running from the browser.
      https://wiki.mozilla.org/Plugins:PlatformIndependentNPAPI

      There is also once for Audio, and its fully featured.
      https://wiki.mozilla.org/Plugins:PepperAudioAPI

      This stuff is basically allowing the idea of Google Chrome OS to become a reality.
      But it also has much wider implications. For instance for the YouTube Video codec question, it opens up the door for the codec to be delivered via the web site playing it.
      The same goes for anything.
      Mayeb you want to interact with Git and your file system.
      NACL does not allow file system access, but if you had a NAS sitting at home or anywhere you could fully interact with it over tcp/ip or Http/ running inside NCL.

    12. Re:Well then... by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      Vimeo is fine on my desktop and main laptop but it's pretty awful for netbooks and smart phones. Between those sorts of devices and the shear amount of old hardware out there, I would guess the needs of the many would be for something that's not as processor intensive.

      That's why PC gaming has always sold less than consoles and consists mainly of old titles being resold and browser based games.

      Perhaps you need to listen to you own quote about the needs of the many.

    13. Re:Well then... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      Vimeo had HD first, and they currently give you a direct link to download the original video, if you have an account.

      I don't know if they're doing any HTML5, though.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    14. Re:Well then... by selven · · Score: 1

      Did you mean:

      sudo be more like Vimeo?

  2. is html5 going to provide faster better video? by timmarhy · · Score: 1

    because if it doesn't, using it will be a mistake.

    --
    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    1. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by BikeHelmet · · Score: 4, Informative

      Video tags are easier to accelerate. They can be handled by just about anything. That means rather than being locked to Flash, it can be played with Xine/GStreamer on Linux, Quicktime on OSX, DirectShow on Windows, DSP codecs on your phone, etc.; it might also be possible to use VLC on any platform, although that defeats the "accelerate" part.

      And of course, you've always got Flash as a fallback.

      P.S. Posted before, but this might be of interest to someone: Javascript-free HTML5/Flash video embedding, which works on desktops as well as devices like the iPhone: http://camendesign.com/code/video_for_everybody

    2. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Randle_Revar · · Score: 4, Informative

      VLC generally supports acceleration when os/driver/card support exists

    3. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by sznupi · · Score: 1

      VLC or more generally libavcodec, even if not using any latest hardware decoding support, would still be much better than Flash...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    4. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      faster how? encoding? decoding? downloading?

      HTML5 video doesn't inherently say anything about video "speed" or quality, because it does not define a codec.
      Some browsers support h.264, which is an option in recent flash, but not yet the standard. Other browsers support Theora, and some support whatever gstreamer/directplay/quicktime support.

      Of course, if Google opens up On2's VP8 codec, and pushes it on Youtube (with fallbacks, of course), browsers will be all over it, and Flash (for video), Theora and perhaps even h.264 will irrelevant just like that.

    5. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by beelsebob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Faster at all 3 if we use h264 because:
      Hardware h264 encoders exist, and I bet google would use them – it would cut their power use massively
      Hardware h264 decoders are common on just about all graphics cards
      h264 can compress a video much more for a given quality than the current flash video they use

      Not faster at all if we use ogg theora because:
      Hardware Ogg encoders don't exist
      Hardware Ogg decoders don't exist
      Ogg barely uses less bandwidth than flash video for a given bandwidth

    6. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by hitmark · · Score: 1

      that depends, if the video cards behaved more like a DSP when it came to video decoding, they can support just about anything.

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    7. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Beauty of ogg however is that it is Open Source. Thus it can grow to such a point that it is better then h264, however such will never happen unless it gains such a spot light as Youtube. H264 on the other hand is owned and is at the mercy of its maker.

      The web has thrived on oss, we should keep it that way.

    8. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      Hardware Theora encoders don't exist
      Hardware Theora decoders don't exist
      Theora barely uses less bandwidth than flash video for a given bandwidth

      Fixed. Stop conflating a wrapper (Ogg) with codecs (Theora and Vorbis, commonly used with Ogg), people!

    9. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by xous · · Score: 1

      Hi,

      I believe Google's model for hosting is using cheap commodity hardware and making it redundant at the software level.

      As far as I am aware cheap video cards do not include a hardware encoder which is what Google would care about at their end. Most users do not know or care if their system has a hardware decoder as they don't understand it's value.

      There may not be cheap hardware Ogg Encoders/decoders as of yet but if it gains popularity these should be able at a fraction of the cost of h264 counterparts because there is no license fee per implementation. This also has the advantage of keeping the content fully viewable with a completely free browser.

    10. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by beelsebob · · Score: 2, Informative

      Most users *absolutely* do care about having hardware decoding – on their cell phone.

    11. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hardware h264 encoders exist, and I bet google would use them – it would cut their power use massively

      First, do you have a citation for this 'massive' reduction in power?

      Second, Google's two main concerns in the case of video and youtube is bandwidth and codec licensing costs, not power. They've already become masters at power efficiency from their experience with their search server farms. Power is not the main issue here, the amount of streaming data they have to pump to the user is.

      As for the licensing issues with h264, why do you think they're buying On2? They've seen the statements from MPEG-LA about future hikes to the cost of using h264 and have decided they need a viable alternative, ie. a backup plan.

      We won't know for sure what is ultimately going to happen until a) MPEG-LA reveals sometime this year what their new fees will be for h264 licensing, and b) Google's On2 buyout is completed (until its complete neither party is saying anything).

      Expect them to be 'following up when we have more information' within days of the finalization of the On2 acquisition, especially if MPEG-LA thinks that they've now got the market locked-in to their solution and decides to get greedy.

    12. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a few problems with backwards compatibility in there...

    13. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by beelsebob · · Score: 1

      Don't get me wrong – if google manages to come up with an open source video codec that's competitive with h264 in terms of bandwidth use for a given quality *and* has hardware decoding support for phones then I would be 100% behind it.

      I'm not even above commenting that h264 is better than OggTheora as a choice necessarily. Only that it at the moment is the only one that satisfies the parent's criterion.

    14. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by moreati · · Score: 5, Informative

      First, do you have a citation for this 'massive' reduction in power?

      Langen, Germany, October 30, 2008 - Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) today expanded its line-up of H.264*1 CODECs with two new devices that encode and decode full high-definition (HD) (1920 dots x 1080 lines) Video in H.264 format. The first of the two products to be launched, the ultra-low power MB86H55, features power consumption of only 500mW during full HD encoding including the built-in memory, an industry-leading level for low power consumption. In addition, the upcoming MB86H56 will offer processing of full HD video at 60 frames-per-second (progressive) '60p'*2, to improve picture quality even further.

      -- http://embedded-computing.com/fujitsu-full-h-264-codecs

      That's half a Watt encoding HD, a general purpose CPU would be consuming tens, or even a hundred watts to do that.

    15. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      if google manages to come up with an open source video codec that's competitive with h264 in terms of bandwidth use for a given quality *and* has hardware decoding support for phones

      Right, I understand the importance of hardware support for handheld devices, just keep in mind that that can happen for any codec if there was demand for it. Hardware accelerated Theora (or Thusnelda - the later, better version of it) could exist right now, if there had just been some demand.

      If a major player like Google opened up one of the advanced On2 VP codecs as an alternative to h264, it would instantly become a viable, if not downright *attractive*, option for gadget makers, because unlike Theora, it would have the backing of one of the market's gorillas, which would eliminate the concern some hardware makers may have about using Theora (which has no major player committed to legally backing it up - thus fear of patent trolls).

      Technically, they wouldn't even need to 'open-source' it, they'd only need to release it for completely royalty-free use (making it obviously much cheaper to implement in hardware), but h264 already has such a dominance of the market, and almost all the mindshare, they would almost have to totally open-source it so it could have a chance at competing with, and ultimately replacing, h264.

      The interesting question is this: does MPEG-LA see Google and its On2 VP tech as a serious threat? If so, they may tone down their future licensing fees, and make it much harder for Google to unseat them from the perch they're already on.

      Obviously, I'm hoping they're greedy and push those fees to high, since I'd rather have an open codec that anybody in the world can use, thats both free & Free, rather than one that only relatively rich companies can afford to license. If MPEG-LA succeeds, then 7-10 years down the road (when everybody is then dependent solely on h264), it'll be the GIF fiasco all over again.

    16. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      That's half a Watt encoding HD, a general purpose CPU would be consuming tens, or even a hundred watts to do that.

      This is a special device/chipset for embedded devices, however, Google isn't running youtube on embedded devices.

      Once you take into consideration the power their server farms are already consuming, any savings just from hardware encoding (which they would only need to do *once* if they could move the market to one Internet video codec standard) becomes a small percentage of their total power consumption.

      Never mind that doing something like this would require them to add a PCI card with this chipset to every one of their server PC's. See xous's comment above us about Google's hardware strategy (using cheap, bog-standard, commodity hardware).

      You can bet Google has looked at hardware options like this, but instead, they bought On2. Hmmm...

    17. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 2, Insightful

      H264 is an open standard as well in many ways as many academics and companies have contributed to it. it is literally the best because everyone has worked on it for years and years and years. the only potential pitfall is that en/decoders might be covered by patents.

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
    18. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      H264 is an open standard

      A standard that requires shelling out $$ for a license to use it isn't 'open', not by most people's definition of 'open'.

      en/decoders might be covered by patents.

      There should be no 'might' in that sentence. Patents on h264 is the reason for MPEG-LA's very existence. They hold more patents on it than you can shake a stick at.

      That mountain of patents and the control it gives its owners is *precisely* the problem with h264.

    19. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by gedw99 · · Score: 1

      http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Documents/AVC_TermsSummary.pdf

      its free for the first 100,000 oem units, and then pretty cheap.

      BUT; it states these are for up to 2010, so we are now in 2010 and i cant find the costs on their site yet

      ged

    20. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      They hold more patents on it than you can shake a stick at.

      Clarification: MPEG-LA doesn't own the patents, they are a patent & licensing 'management' company setup to work on behalf of the actual patent owners. They are to the patent owners of MPEG tech what RIAA is to the record studios. They are the 'enforcers' who would show up at your door if you ever use h264 tech without a license.

    21. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      BUT; it states these are for up to 2010

      Bingo, this is that 'other shoe' everyone is waiting for to be dropped.

      IIRC, there is no firm date for when they'll release their new licensing plans, but I read somewhere its most likely to come out early this year, say March-May, or so. The current regime expires at the end of this year (Dec. 31), so they'll have to get the new one out with enough lead-time for everyone deal with and, they hope, eventually accept, the suspected new 'pain' that will be involved...

    22. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Skapare · · Score: 1

      Where's the obligatory URL to a H.264 decoder chip with a fully documented and open, royalty-free and unencumbered INTERFACE (we don't need a driver for BSD or Linux, because if it is truly an open chip, the driver will be developed)?

      I have no issue with using some proprietary patent encumbered protocol or format where all the work to process it is inside a licensable piece of hardware (which could even have its own firmware and CPU built inside to do it all). If the manufacturer of the chip requires that it be pre-loaded with a binary blob, it's OK to do it this way, too, as long as they make the blob itself freely available and freely distributable as a separate file (it doesn't have to be integrated into GPL software when it's a separate file ... for example the driver for the chip can create /proc/load-the-h264-blob-here and let an init script provide it from the file).

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    23. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by beelsebob · · Score: 1

      If you don't mind a binary blob (as you said), see any modern (G92 or later) nVidia card...

      I believe intel's new IGPs have open drivers for video decoding too.

      If you want embedded platforms, the PVR MBX/SGX does video decoding, and there are many linux distros with it implemented.

      You probably want to go look at vdpau in general though ;).

    24. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Kjella · · Score: 1

      A standard that requires shelling out $$ for a license to use it isn't 'open', not by most people's definition of 'open'.

      It's certainly better than "closed" in that ffmpeg and x264 have excellent en/decoders because they didn't have to reverse engineer it.

      There should be no 'might' in that sentence. Patents on h264 is the reason for MPEG-LA's very existence. They hold more patents on it than you can shake a stick at.

      Which is exactly why people are worried about Theora and On2. There's a ton of patents on h.264, held by many different major companies in the area. I couldn't find a number for H.264, but the wikipedia page for MPEG2 says that alone is covered by 640 patents. Now take a deep breath and forget all your anger and frustration with how the patent system is and should be, and honestly answer: Do you seriously think On2 has, in the middle of that patent thicket, managed to create a codec that nobody else holds a patent to? All it takes is one bad patent to be upheld, and you might have to change the bitstream and replace every existing en/decoder. Otherwise it would no longer be an "open" standard in your meaning of it.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    25. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by tepples · · Score: 1

      Hardware accelerated Theora (or Thusnelda - the later, better version of it) could exist right now, if there had just been some demand.

      Thusnelda is the name of an encoder that produces Theora bitstreams compatible with all conforming Theora players. For a service like YouTube, it's less important for the encoding to be hardware accelerated because encoding happens once on fast servers, but decoding might happen 24,576 times (or more often if you're Fred).

    26. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by nine-times · · Score: 1

      Hardware h264 encoders exist, and I bet google would use them

      They already do. Google encodes YouTube stuff in h264, and includes h264 support in Chrome. I could see something changing with the On2 purchase, but for now, h264 is a good bet.

    27. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by nine-times · · Score: 2, Informative

      Can you explain why it would be a mistake? If we were to assume for a second that performance on the client end would be exactly the same, then what would be the mistake in using standards instead of a proprietary stuff?

      But anyway, it will provide some benefits. They're already encoding all their video in h264, but they're using Flash as the player, which is pretty inefficient. For one thing, Flash means no hardware decoding. Also, Flash itself can be a bit of a resource hog. Providing the same video stream but allowing the browser to hand it off to a better decoder will be much better.

    28. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by molecular · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's half a Watt encoding HD, a general purpose CPU would be consuming tens, or even a hundred watts to do that.

      They wouldn't have to put that into the youtube web-servers, because, as you said later in your post, they'd only have to do it once. They would certainly pre-encode all the videos and put them on storage somewhere (cloudy place).
      Also: noone forces them to use an embedded device, even if the chip was specifically made for use in such.

    29. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by maxume · · Score: 1

      Every server? They are smarter than that. They could add the encoder cards to every server in a single data center (or some portion) and offload the encoding to that farm, and just store the data everywhere.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    30. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But you are missing the BIG "gotcha" like what happened with Ogg...hardware support. Sure MP3 in "patent encumbered" but you know what? I can buy an MP3 player at Walgreens for under $15 so as a consumer I don't care. We have the same problem here, in that pretty much every single GPU released in the last few years supports H264 out of the box. Both the onboard that came with my PC as well as the 4650 I paid a whole $35 for has hardware support for MPEG 2/4, DivX/Xvid, WMV 7-9, and H263/264 out of the box. Nothing for me as a consumer to mess with, and even on a quad core having the video accelerated makes for a nicer experience for me, so the patents? I really don't care as a consumer.

      And THAT right there, that is the gotcha that will most likely screw Theora. You see FLOSSies care about things like patents, the Average Joe? Hell he never comes in contact with them. It is just like how the average Joe don't give a crap about DRM unless it bites him in the ass. But unlike DRM I don't see this ever actually biting the consumer in the ass, so I don't see them giving a crap. The producers, OTOH, will just pay off the licenses if they are big, or if they are small will more likely hope that users will still come to them even if they don't use what everyone else does, which with the rise of netbooks and how many of the newer ones are getting decent GPUs like the new AMD Neo and the Ion, might not work.

      After all if your competitor's content places nicely on my netbook thanks to GPU acceleration, but yours don't? Well I probably wouldn't come back to your site. That is the problem I think many FLOSSies here don't get. Frankly the average user don't give a wet fart about "free as in freedom" because if they did they wouldn't be buying all the proprietary software they currently do. As long as it goes when they push the button that is all the user cares about, and the others have acceleration and Theora don't. Sorry to be the bearer of that bad news, but dealing with retail for going on 15 years that is pretty much how the "average Joes" think and behave.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    31. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

      I think the Flash player does too...

    32. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by cyclomedia · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Problem is, whether we like it or not, h264/mp4 is the standard, because every dvd player, blu ray player, laptop and toaster oven already support it. The same reason Mp3 became the standard portable audio format, not because it's free, or better or gives blow jobs but because everything and everybody already supported it.

      No amount of bitching and whining on slashdot or the w3c mailing list will change the reality of the remainder of the planet. It's the way it is and at the end of the day it's a video codec, not genocide, so there's really no harm in accepting it and getting on with supporting it ourselves.

      --
      If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
    33. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 1

      H264 is an open standard as well in many ways as many academics and companies have contributed to it. it is literally the best because everyone has worked on it for years and years and years. the only potential pitfall is that en/decoders might be covered by patents.

      Sounds a bit like JPEG 2000. A provably superior standard, the product of many top minds, yet not one in a million sites ever uses it, and I'm not even sure there's a browser out there that supports it.

      Yes H264 is the superior standard. We all know that. But H264 is unusable as a web standard while protection money needs to be paid to MPEG-LA. It's that simple. Google and apple have their eye on embedded devices, where h264 will probably end up working as a standard. But on the web? With site hosts and browser makers both vulnerable to take downs by a single company? It will never work.

      JPEG 2000 proved that the web will -- quite rightly -- drop a superior technology if patent restrictions are placed on it(And that was back in the days before a major alternative browser presence). The web is going to do the same for H264. The HTML5 video tag is dead. We're back to ad hoc solutions for video; oh yes, and flash. And it's going to be like this for the next 20 years until the H264 patents expire.

      "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,...". What a joke.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    34. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Narishma · · Score: 1

      Only in the latest beta version, and only on Windows.

      --
      Mada mada dane.
    35. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I work for a major company the produces popular digital HD video cameras. The codec that is used to encode/store videos on the device is a big deal. If you choose the wrong codec, your battery life with be awful.

    36. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      When you handle as much video as youtube, "pre-encoding the videos" is a huge technical challenge that hardware acceleration would be incredibly useful for.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    37. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      They wouldn't have to put that into the youtube web-servers, because, as you said later in your post, they'd only have to do it once.

      They'd only do it once if they were able to use a real, open, universal standard. We don't have that yet.

      And no, h264's de-facto standard is not a *real* standard, its derived solely from popularity, not from an industry-wide agreement (if it was a real standard it would be part of HTML5 right now).

    38. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      Problem is, whether we like it or not, h264/mp4 is the standard, because every dvd player, blu ray player, laptop and toaster oven already support it.

      de-facto standard != *real* standard

      A real standard is something that, for example, all browser makers could agree on for a video codec. They can't.

      The same reason Mp3 became the standard portable audio format

      You can find music players that support other formats. Again, popularity != universal acceptance. The kind of standard that Google (and others) wants is one that is universally accepted so they don't have to worry about any other alternatives.

      Besides, all my music is in FLAC or Vorbis format. Just sayin'. :)

      but because everything and everybody already supported it.

      Accept that isn't true, not *everybody* does, or can, support tech that has DRM, licensing, or patent restrictions.

      No amount of bitching and whining
      ...
      at the end of the day it's a video codec, not genocide,

      Hyperbole much?

    39. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Z80a · · Score: 1

      ever tried using OGG on one of these portable MP3 systems?

      afaik, most "chipods" can play OGG just fine.

    40. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, and only when Adobe makes it work.

      That's the important thing -- HTML5 can be improved by any browser. Flash can only realistically be improved by Adobe right now, at least until Gnash becomes relevant.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    41. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's certainly better than "closed" in that ffmpeg and x264 have excellent en/decoders because they didn't have to reverse engineer it.

      No, they didn't have to reverse engineer it, but they did have to violate the patents on it though. Fortunately, this 'violation' is only enforceable only in certain parts of the world, not all of it, so implementations like ffmpeg and x264 can exist (if MPEG-LA had global reach, they would have shut these projects down a long time ago).

      Better, but not quite good, at least in my book.

      A good standard is one that anyone can implement, anywhere in the world, without the need for anyone's permission, or the need to hand over blood-money to anyone just for the 'privilege' of implementing a 'standard'.

      Implementing a standard shouldn't be a privilege, it should be a right, otherwise its not much of a standard.

    42. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by fritsd · · Score: 1
      FUD.
      That Ogg Theora isn't supported in hardware is presumably not due to any kind of property of the algorithm itself, but instead because there's no commercial incentive *at present* to build a hardware encoder/decoder for it.
      The more it gets used, the more such a commercial incentive will become viable, so I wouldn't say it's "the gotcha that will most likely screw Theora", it will just mean that it will take a while before mobile phones can play it easily.
      From the wikipedia page:

      Theora is a variable-bitrate, DCT-based video compression scheme. Like most common video codecs, Theora also uses chroma subsampling, block based motion compensation and an 8 by 8 DCT block. It supports intra-coded frames and forward predictive frames, but not bi-predictive frames which are found in H.264 and VC-1. Theora also does not currently support interlacing, variable frame rates, or bit-depths larger than 8 bits per component.

      If that Discrete Cosine Transform is the most computation-intensive part of the algorithm, it's solved because that is also used in JPEG and MPEG so hardware support is probably already in existence. Also the phrase "Like most common video codecs" sounds like hardware support doesn't need to be coded from scratch, as opposed to e.g. Dirac which uses wavelet transforms instead of DCT.

      --
      To be, or not to be: isn't that quite logical, Slashdot Beta?
    43. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by agrif · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You did not mention openness in your post, so I have no idea where you stand on that. Your post is factual, though.

      People need to remember that h264 is not a free format! This is why YouTube videos are limited to ~10 minutes. A free format should be preferred in this case. Also, HTML5 is intended to be an open format. Video and audio codecs that are used with HTML5 should also be open, or the whole system is no longer open. An open format, when available, should always be selected here regardless of quality.

      I'd like to point out here that, while people are always comparing Theora to, say, h264, and saying that Theora loses, you have to remember that Theora is still a quality video codec. Sure, it may not be as good, compression-wise, as h264, but it's not so much worse it shouldn't be considered. And it's open.

      Google, with YouTube, has a great opportunity here to shape the future. Ogg Theora would never even be considered by anyone else, but if Google starts using it for YouTube, so will everybody else. HTML5 should have specified it from the beginning, but the WHATWG didn't have the power to back it up. Google can do it for them.

    44. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      They could add the encoder cards to every server in a single data center (or some portion)

      If we had a real universal open video codec standard, every el-cheapo, bog-standard motherboard could include the encoder/decoder chipset for a few pennies per board, and no one would have to worry with this problem at all.

    45. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      JPEG 2000 a superior standard?

      Ahahahahahahaha!

      Did you really know the maths behind that image format? I bet you don't!

    46. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by MostAwesomeDude · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, accelerating Theora is high on our priority list due to it being one of the few codecs that Redhat can sponsor and ship.

      We have no plans to add h.264 acceleration to any GPU driver at the moment, although patches are welcome.

      The hardware can decode h.263 (Theora) just as well as it can decode h.264.

      --
      ~ C.
    47. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by MostAwesomeDude · · Score: 2, Informative

      When open-source video drivers begin to get video acceleration for modern formats, Theora will be first on the list due to Redhat's endorsement. h.264 will not be supported in default builds on many distros.

      Additionally, if you're using fglrx, you aren't getting video acceleration (fglrx doesn't support it using the standard APIs) so it doesn't matter which codec you use.

      Oh, and Android has Vorbis support out-of-the-box. I don't think we lost, not at all. :3

      --
      ~ C.
    48. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Briareos · · Score: 1

      h264 can compress a video much more for a given quality than the current flash video they use

      Except, of course, that the flash plugin has supported H264 video for a while now and the 10.1 beta actually does accelerate H264 decoding via the graphics card (I'd say less than 5% CPU use when playing a HD trailer suggests it's being accelerated...)

      np: Pink Floyd - Echoes (Meddle)

      --

      "I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole

    49. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Open Source video drivers? Do you have ANY idea what a teeny tiny itsy bitsy amount of people there are out there using Open Source video drivers? You would probably be damned lucky if that were one half of one percent of the general pop. With numbers that tiny I'm afraid that just isn't gonna make a dang bit of difference, just like how some itsabatsabuchi MP3 player having Ogg support don't mean squat when everyone has iPods or Sandisks. Nope, sorry, ain't gonna work. The ONLY way IMHO that Theora will gain any more traction than Ogg has now, which honestly working PC repair and having to back up average Joe's systems I've never actually seen a single Ogg file in the wild, is to have hardware acceleration for the big three (Ati, Intel, Nvidia) written and included in the Windows drivers, preferably from Windows XP on up. That would instantly give you hardware acceleration in 90% of the market, overnight and in one fell swoop.

      But betting the farm on Open Source Linux Drivers coming to the rescue is like betting your life savings on next year being "The Year of the Linux Desktop". Considering everything we have seen in the past you got less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of your bet paying off, and considering we are talking about trying to come up with a "flash killer" that is just unacceptable. And as for the poster above you who screamed FUD just because I pointed out that the emperor Theora has no clothes? All of my customers just rave about how even my low end office boxes are "just so nice" when it comes to playing video, how even the lower end P4s and Athlons multitask so smoothly.

      What is my secret? I tack on an extra $35 which pays for a decent low end GPU if it doesn't have one by default. I don't know how video software acceleration is on Linux because I don't sell it (which I have explained why in previous posts) but on Windows even on multicore you CAN tell the difference between hardware accelerated and non accelerated. With GPU acceleration everything is smoother, there is pretty much zero stutter or dropped frames, it just makes for a nicer experience which is why I no longer sell Intel onboard GPUs even for office boxes. I have found the acceleration on the Ati and Nvidia onboard GPUs make up for the couple of extra bucks I have to spend on a mobo. And whether you like it or not hardware acceleration IS the wave of the present, much less the future. Those tiny netbooks have to have hardware acceleration if those tiny atom CPUs are gonna give a decent experience. Sticking your head in the sand and screaming FUD isn't gonna change reality pal, so don't shoot the messenger.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    50. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by icebraining · · Score: 1

      Actually, you can have videos that last for *hours* - as long as you keep them under 100MB. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct8nZ6eTTiY

    51. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, fglrx *does* have XvBA support and a wrapper to use VA-API. So unless by 'standard APIs' you mean VDPAU and nothing else, then your statement is incorrect.

      That being said, you currently have to compile the xvba-video driver and mplayer-vaapi to use it on most distros, and said mplayer patch tends to run a bit buggy in my experience.

    52. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 1

      I'm in full support of Dirac, and there is an idea posted: http://productideas.appspot.com/#9/e=3d60a&t=dirac

    53. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by selven · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So if something is widely accepted we shouldn't change it? A world that runs like that will, by definition, have exactly zero progress.

    54. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Sandisk don't, and the Sony ones don't, and that is the big two we have around here that aren't iPods. Like I said it really doesn't matter if the Itsabatsabuchi MP3 player works on Ogg, if the big dogs don't. From what I have seen the big sellers are in order of popularity...Apple, Sandisk, Sony, Creative, and dragging the rear the el cheapo Cowon models they sell at places like Walgreens and Big Lots. And AFAIK none of those on that list will actually play Ogg. Sure the more expensive cowon models do, but that ain't what they are selling and the under $50 ones don't.

      So my point still stands. It don't matter if...say SiS supports Theora out of the box, because so few consumers would have it to make a difference. You need support from Ati, Nvidia, and Intel, and it has to work in Windows, preferably from XP on up. That would give you hardware acceleration for Theora and a good 90%+ marketshare capable of accelerating your format overnight. But with the popularity of netbooks, and the fact that even on desktops having the video offload to the GPU gives a much nicer experience (my customers can't tell you WHY they like to watch video on my builds, they just know it is "nicer" than the other guy's) means Theora needs GPU Windows hardware acceleration ASAP.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    55. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Yfrwlf · · Score: 1

      Yes, there is, as it's a threat to both end users and developers by countries which support patent laws. Accept that you should only support actual open standards, or accept that you are violating the law and expect a challenge. By all means, software patents should be challenged. It's up in the air as to whether supporting closed/patented things is helping or hindering those efforts. I think it could do either one. Supporting something closed could potentially be an argument against laws enforcing its restriction, while everyone rejecting things which are closed would make those things less relevant which will mean less incentives for companies to try to patent software.

      --
      Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
    56. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Yfrwlf · · Score: 1

      Along with my reply to the other commenter, I wanted to comment about your hardware argument too. Accepting things which are closed means headaches for developers as well as end users in countries where patent laws exist. This driving force will lead towards better support for open formats, just as the demand for open source drivers has led to better open source drivers, and the hardware will come about due to that success. Yes, Hollywood has backed H264, so there is a lot of that support around, but saying that everyone should follow them and support restricted formats is just asking for trouble. I agree with rebelling against closed formats, and think either supporting or ignoring them could have potentially good effects as far as getting rid of patents, but for the most part I think ignoring them and proving that openness is the better path might be more helpful not only now, so that no one has to worry, but in the future too as the helpfulness of software patents is hopefully re-examined by the courts.

      Yes, the average joe is effected directly by how open something is and should care, as the things which revolve around that standard will be impacted depending on how open it is. This common short-sided view of "well as a consumer, I don't care, I just want it to work" is fail because there will be more OF that thing if it is more open, and that DOES effect joe shmoe.

      This is just like with Linux and software for it. Yes, I DO care if it becomes adopted, as the more use it gets directly effects me and the number and quality of applications for that platform which I prefer to use, so of course I care about all issues which might impede or help that. You can even go a step further and say that the quality of life is better for everyone the more competition there is, and the cheaper things are, which is completely true. Getting rid of patents and other regulations which by doing so improve competition and make everything cheaper ultimately will make life better for everyone on the planet.

      --
      Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
    57. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by Yfrwlf · · Score: 1

      In fact, getting a little off topic, dare I say that regulations and monopolies are the #1 reason the economy and, taking a step back, the quality of life for everyone, sucks right now? It's true. The bigger the slice of pie that is being taken from the economy as a whole and used for pointless, wasteful reasons, the greater everyone's quality of life is deteriorated. See the parable of the broken window.

      --
      Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
    58. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by moreati · · Score: 1

      I wasn't claiming that Youtube or Google take any particular action. I just wanted to provide the citation you requested, that hardware encoders/decoders have vastly reduced power consumption.

      Agreed Google have likely looked at this in far more detail. On the subjject of commodity hardware performing hardaware acceleraton, I'm guessing that's where GPGPUs and the nest generation combined chipset/graphics controllers come into play.

    59. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by notrandomly · · Score: 1

      Hardware support for Theora is easy to fix, especially because you don't have to sacrifice your firstborn to support it, unlike the licensing fees for H.264.

    60. Re:is html5 going to provide faster better video? by agrif · · Score: 1

      It's been a while, so I'll post this for information only...

      The ~10 minute restriction only applies to the h.264 encoded videos on youtube, which are all those with "high quality" versions, and the ones you can watch on the iPhone (I think...). I guess if you have a long, bad quality video it's fine.

  3. Google's purchase of On2 by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

    It will be interesting to see if Google would use On2's compression technique on YouTube.

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by sznupi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Plus releasing On2 tech as a standard without legal encumbrances, for everyone to take & implement freely, and opening its adoption as the HTML5 video?

      That would be interesting...

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    2. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What compression technique? VP8? I haven't seen anything concrete on this one yet, but I sure would be interested in it...

    3. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      Yes, VP8 is what they (and everyone else) are thinking of. But you are quite right, neither On2 nor Google has said anything to encourage that idea, and they probably won't until the acquisition is complete.

    4. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by hitmark · · Score: 2, Insightful

      technically thats what ogg theora is, as it was on2's submission for mpeg4 standardization that was not selected, and that they later handed over to ogg.

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    5. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by jonwil · · Score: 2, Informative

      OGG Theora is based on On2 VP3.
      On2 VP8 is a much better codec than VP3 ever was.

    6. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      There has been a lot of FUD about Theora's patent status, however. On2 gave away the patents that covered VP3, but it's possible that some patents were infringed later, or were infringed by VP3 but no one bothered suing. No one has done an exhaustive patent search on Theora to see if it infringes any submarines. With the MPEG standards, there is less of an incentive to sit on patents that the standard infringes, because if you disclose them early then there is a mechanism set up for you to get royalties.

      VP8, on the other hand, is a modern codec and now Google owns the rights to it. If they release it publicly as open source then they could easily push widespread adoption. If they simultaneously release a new YouTube which recommends a browser that supports VP8 and a new version of Chrome that does, then they'll probably get a lot of people switching, and other browser writers will have their users complaining that YouTube doesn't work right and asking why they don't support VP8.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    7. Re:Google's purchase of On2 by kill-1 · · Score: 1

      I'm convinced that this is exactly what Google plans to do once the acquisition of On2 is finished. The lack of an open, royalty-free video format with better compression than Ogg Theora is the one thing that's keeping HTML5 video behind.

  4. Can we dump flash now? by Djupblue · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Youtube is pretty much the only reason I need Flash. If it was possible to watch Youtube videos without plugins it would be great. No more choppiness or Flash using 100% CPU. Playing some videos from internet shouldn't be rocket surgery so this is really about time. Flash seems almost purposefully bad on Linux.

    1. Re:Can we dump flash now? by icebraining · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you use Firefox, have you tried some greasemonkey script that replace the Flash player with an embedded version? Like http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/46219

    2. Re:Can we dump flash now? by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      Are you using the newest version? The current 64 bit version has been working great for me, no problems unless my browser has been up with lots of flash for a week. Admittedly, I never use fullscreen.

      I still agree that Flash should go away, though.

    3. Re:Can we dump flash now? by icebraining · · Score: 1

      My version doesn't crash anymore, but I have an embedded card and while mplayerplug-in can display 720p video in fullscreen without any problems, the Flash players struggle to display normal youtube videos (non-hq versions!)

    4. Re:Can we dump flash now? by PenquinCoder · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the link. This greasemonkey script greatly improved my youtube experience under Linux x64.

    5. Re:Can we dump flash now? by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      Well, that does suck.
      My Intel X3500 manages hq at least

    6. Re:Can we dump flash now? by Funnnny · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I replaced Youtube's flash player with html5 a long time ago with a Chrome's add-on, and it's great. Have another plugin to block all flash content, and we have a powerful browser

    7. Re:Can we dump flash now? by Skapare · · Score: 1

      Let me know when the "no plug-in" version is available.

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    8. Re:Can we dump flash now? by TBoon · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Obligatory XKCD http://xkcd.com/676/

    9. Re:Can we dump flash now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Link (to the addon), please.

    10. Re:Can we dump flash now? by slim · · Score: 2, Informative
    11. Re:Can we dump flash now? by infiniphonic · · Score: 1

      Or on any PPC processor.

      --
      Crisis is the rule, not the exception.
  5. How about comments like NicoNico? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about timed comments showing up on the page like NicoNico Douga and also live streaming with live comments like ustream?

  6. So wait... by gaelfx · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... you're telling me that I finally got Flash working on my 64-bit Ubuntu box for nothing??? (Admittedly, it wasn't really that difficult) To be honest though, it doesn't really matter for me since YouTube is still blocked in China, but it would be nice to see if this prompts the many streaming sites in China to embrace an open-standard such as this, but that will never happen since everyone continues to use IE6 here and I'm betting that IE will never implement HTML5 until it's long past finished...sooooo another 15 years before IE used HTML5? Bets anyone?

    1. Re:So wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I say 10 years, but they'll also screw up the implementation and never fix it.

  7. VP 3 vs VP 8 by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

    VP 4 has higher compression ratio than VP 3.

    VP 6 reportedly has 50% more compression than VP 4.

    According to ON2's site, they are saying that VP 8 achieves 40% more compression than VP 6, with much less noise.

    Of course I take all those claim with a grain of salt. Let's half the claims, then.

    VP 6 achieves 25% more compression than VP 4.

    VP 8 achieves 20% more compression than VP 6.

    Which means VP 8 is at least 50% better than VP 4, which is in itself better than VP 3 / Ogg Theora.

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:VP 3 vs VP 8 by cortana · · Score: 1

      Ogg theora is no longer the same as VP 3. It has had many years of improvements!

      Are there any decent comparisons of the two?

    2. Re:VP 3 vs VP 8 by FrostedWheat · · Score: 1

      Which means VP 8 is at least 50% better than VP 4, which is in itself better than VP 3 / Ogg Theora.

      Only if you ignore the significant improvements the Xiph guys have made to Theora recently.

    3. Re:VP 3 vs VP 8 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not correct. What would happen, if you added procentages like 25% better, 50% better, and 50% better?

      Using On2,'s numbers the final improvements from VP3 to VP8 is:

      (1+(50/100))+(1+(40/100)) = 2.9

      times better than VP3.

    4. Re:VP 3 vs VP 8 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, 50% of all quoted percentages are made up on the spot?

    5. Re:VP 3 vs VP 8 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And all that means that Ogg Theora has room for improvement. Yay!

  8. UStream chat = IRC by Inf0phreak · · Score: 1

    Actually UStream's chat is just regular old IRC. Seriously. /server c.ustream.tv and then /nick [username]:[password] and you're in business. Of course it's only UStream... livestream, justin.tv and pretty much everyone else are still using crappy proprietary chat interfaces as far as I can tell.

    Of course Youtube moving away from Flash won't kill that abomination on the web anyway. Live video is becoming a lot more popular and Flash is by far the easiest way to make it happen right now. It's also pretty cheap---at least until MPEG-LA cranks up the price for streaming H.264 content in 2011.

    --
    ________
    Entranced by anime since late summer 2001 and loving it ^_^
  9. Bullet point 4 by RichiH · · Score: 1

    4) Google and youtube are large enough to make companies reconsider about hardware support.

    I am not certain how good you can pour Theora into silicon, but I seem to remember easy hardware decoding (i.e. not using much silicon real estate) was one of the goals.

    Richard

    PS: Ogg is a container, Theora is the actual video codec

    PPS: _If_ they do it, do it right. Use Theora in a MKV

  10. You always could. by RichiH · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you use zsh:

    youplayer () {
                    mplayer "http://youtube.com/get_video?"${${${"$(wget -o/dev/null -O- "${1}" | grep -e watch_fullscreen)"}##*watch_fullscreen\?}%%\&fs=*}
    }

    If not:

    youplayer() {
                    mplayer $(youtube-dl -g $1)
    }

  11. this is google after all by rastoboy29 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Another chance for them to redeem themselves and do some not evil shit.

    Srsly when you see "don't be evil" think "Honest Google's Search Emporium".

  12. Terrible performance by Inf0phreak · · Score: 1

    Not any time soon. Embedded Theora video in Firefox 3.5 still uses at least twice as much CPU as downloading the file and playing it with a proper video player. It's better than Flash which is even more greedy with your CPU cycles, but it is by no means anywhere near close to being called good.

    --
    ________
    Entranced by anime since late summer 2001 and loving it ^_^
  13. Turtle logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a is based on b
    c is much better than b

    ergo c is much better than a ?

  14. How long? by Skapare · · Score: 1

    So the next big question is, how long will it take for all the über geeks at Google to make it happen? I wonder if they can pull it off quicker than the time it takes to hire a new person.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  15. It wasn't a syllogism by tepples · · Score: 1

    @Anonymous Coward: I don't think jonwil intended that his comment be taken rigorously as a syllogism. Specifically, I took "VP3 ever was" to imply VP3 and all codecs based closely on its principles. But even though VP3-based codecs like Theora can't compete with H.264 or VP8, they occupy a space between MPEG-2 and H.264, similar to the MPEG-4 Part 2 familiar from the DivX scene.

  16. How about "Could you please ban gaming videos?" by tepples · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's a more polite way to say, "be more like Vimeo"?

    How about "I know a lot of people who, to put it mildly, aren't a fan of video games. Can you make subtle changes to your policy so that videos of video games end up all but banned?"

    Background: Vimeo bans use of its service for commercial purposes; this rules out any video uploaded by the video game's publisher. Vimeo also rejects videos uploaded by anyone other than the author; this rules out videos of game play uploaded by anyone other than the video game's publisher because they're "derivative works".

    1. Re:How about "Could you please ban gaming videos?" by arose · · Score: 1

      No reason to use scare quotes on derivative works. They are.

      --
      Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
    2. Re:How about "Could you please ban gaming videos?" by novakreo · · Score: 1

      How about "I know a lot of people who, to put it mildly, aren't a fan of video games. Can you make subtle changes to your policy so that videos of video games end up all but banned?"

      I don't get it, is someone forcing you to watch video game-related videos? Are you unable to find videos that interest you by yourself?

      --
      O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
  17. Grammar nutsies by tepples · · Score: 1

    If you correct a point of terminology in a post, it is also polite to correct a point of substance along with it. Otherwise, you look like you're in the National Socialist Grammar Teachers Party.

    1. Re:Grammar nutsies by Randle_Revar · · Score: 1

      But I believe the post is otherwise correct. Someone started work on a Theora FPGA decoder for SoC 2006, and that is about it.

      And that definitely isn't grammar, I think the correct word in this case is semantics.

  18. What is the problem with Flash? by master_p · · Score: 0, Redundant

    As a Windows user, I have no problem viewing videos with Flash. I often have multiple Flash streams downloading and only one playing, so I don't have to wait for the next part of multipart videos.

    So, what's exactly the problem with Flash?

    1. Re:What is the problem with Flash? by lwsimon · · Score: 1

      Its mainly a philosophical and flexibility one.

      --
      Learn about Photography Basics.
    2. Re:What is the problem with Flash? by Narishma · · Score: 1

      For one it needs a huge amount of resources to play a simple video, which is a problem in low powered devices like netbooks or smartphones.

      --
      Mada mada dane.
  19. Leading the way by slashmonkey · · Score: 1

    This can only be a good thing, maybe when GooTube adopts the HTML5 video tag, browsers will then adopt a common standard and behaviour.

  20. Apple should do the right move here by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

    Almost everything already supports H.264 and AAC, they're both excellent CODECs and the *only* problem people have with it is the damn patents.

    Apple should just buy all the rights to H.264 and AAC and then make them free to use/public domain.

    Another solution would be to change the license requirements for software-only products (such as browsers), so that only hardware products require a license.

    1. Re:Apple should do the right move here by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Which is great until H.265 is released and the whole problem repeats itself. It's also a matter of the FTC letting Apple purchase all of these companies (Some probably won't want to sell their patents.) and Apple actually wanting to spend all of this money for something that benefits them in no way at all. Maybe some goodwill but most people won't even understand what's being talked about.

      Since most hardware buying built these days has H.264 decoding built in somewhere, wouldn't it just be sufficient for browsers to pass the decoding off to the hardware without implementing anything else beyond that? All we need for this is a few system calls that allow the browser to determine if there is hardware decoding available and then make the appropriate calls to use it.

      Hardware always costs money to make so a price will always be charged for it which keeps the patent holders happy and every browser can support H.264 without having to write or implement a decoder in software. The only people this doesn't work out for are the folks with legacy hardware, but a lot of them will eventually upgrade to something new.

    2. Re:Apple should do the right move here by True+Grit · · Score: 1

      Apple should just buy all the rights to H.264 and AAC

      Apple is already one of the patent owners serviced by MPEG-LA. They make money off of h264 themselves. Thats why they're pushing it. Its easy money in their pocket.

      As for buying out all the other patent owners, I doubt anyone, not even Google, has that much money. Those patent licenses are a huge cash-cow.

    3. Re:Apple should do the right move here by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      That's the most sane solution I've ever heard about this topic. Hardware already has H.264 decoding and it would make it necessary for software to actually use hardware-accelerated decoding.

  21. The DMCA stuff is important. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not sure to what extent this is "storm-in-a-teacup" status, but the DMCA has been frequently abused on YouTube as a means of censorship -- not just by corporations, but by individuals. So has "false flagging" -- a video says something you disagree with? Flag it as inappropriate.

    Both of these seem to be handled somewhat mechanically by YouTube. For a good example, search for "What Islam Fears: Laughter," but it's much more common than that -- particularly, creationists like to use it to get atheist videos removed, when their votebots fail to reduce the video's score significantly.

    Most recently, VenomFangX (remember him?) pulled a neat little trick in which he false-DMCA'd someone, then dropped it when a counter-notice was filed and accused this person of child molestation, using the personal information from the counter-notice to personally identify him.

    So far, I see a ton of comments about HTML5, and that's well and good, open standards are important. But freedom of speech is more important. Granted, it is YouTube's right to censor whatever they wish, but this doesn't seem to be YouTube doing the censoring, or indeed a conscious choice on the part of any human at YouTube -- it's individuals abusing YouTube's flagging and DMCA notice system.

    Of course, if Google notices this, expect the next wash of comments to be complaints about the new channel pages -- fair enough, given I don't know a single person who prefers it to the old system -- but not nearly as important as these two issues.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  22. The three worlds. by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

    It’s weird. I see two “sides”, presented as “fighting” (of course the are not>). And both of them are not connected to reality at all.

    First we have what’s there right now: Flash, some proprietary container, H.264, MP3.
    Then we have the open source evangelists (as opposed to the normal friends of open source): HTML5, Theora, OGG, Vorbis.

    Meanwhile, here in the real world, everybody who distributes modern videos, does it in: Matroska container, AC3, Vorbis, AAC or MP3, perhaps subtitles, via torrents or just an (X)HTML <object> tag ((X)HTML5 in the future).
    (Before HD and 5.1 it used to be AVI.)

    Both “sides”: Get down to the real world!

    YouTube! Implement the most obvious thing: A HTML5 <video> tag, Matroska, H.264, and MP3/Vorbis/AC3 (depending on what the uploader chose). You can of course add Theora. But nearly nobody will care because it will look crappy when hitting the same size/bitrate limitation.

    Firefox! Connect your <video> tag to ffmpeg plus libmatroska, and be done with it! They are open source, on every open source OS, on every OS that downloads movies from the net (so basically: everyone), and most importantly: Support aaalll the above formats, plus a ton more.

    There. Easy peasy.
    Or do I really have to wait for a Russian cracker team to beat some sense into us and release a Firefox extension later??

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
  23. ARGH! Damn Flash to hell! by danielsfca2 · · Score: 1

    I was so excited to see the first part of that sentence, and then... ARGH!

    God damn it Adobe. You sure know how to make Mac users hate you.

    O/T PS: Stop having Acrobat products force-install an inferior, broken PDF reading plugin. We like the fast one that works that came with Safari.