Adrian Grange

The latest open-source video codec VP9 - An overview and preliminary results

Google has recently finalized a next generation open-source video codec called VP9, as part of the libvpx repository of the WebM project (http://www.webmproject.org/). Starting from the VP8 video codec released by Google in 2010 as the baseline, various enhancements and new tools were added, resulting in the next-generation VP9 bit-stream. This paper provides a brief technical overview of VP9 along with comparisons with other state-of-the-art video codecs H.264/AVC and HEVC on standard test sets. Results show VP9 to be quite competitive with mainstream state-of-the-art codecs.

Towards a next generation open-source video codec

Google has recently been developing a next generation opensource video codec called VP9, as part of the experimental branch of the libvpx repository included in the WebM project (http://www.webmproject.org/). Starting from the VP8 video codec released by Google in 2010 as the baseline, a number of enhancements and new tools have been added to improve the coding efficiency. This paper provides a technical overview of the current status of this project along with comparisons and other stateoftheart video codecs H. 264/AVC and HEVC. The new tools that have been added so far include: larger prediction block sizes up to 64x64, various forms of compound INTER prediction, more modes for INTRA prediction, ⅛pel motion vectors and 8tap switchable subpel interpolation filters, improved motion reference generation and motion vector coding, improved entropy coding and framelevel entropy adaptation for various symbols, improved loop filtering, incorporation of Asymmetric Discrete Sine Transforms and larger 16x16 and 32x32 DCTs, frame level segmentation to group similar areas together, etc. Other tools and various bitstream features are being actively worked on as well. The VP9 bitstream is expected to be finalized by earlyto mid2013. Results show VP9 to be quite competitive in performance with mainstream stateoftheart codecs.

The internet needs a competitive, royalty-free video codec

In this paper, we present the argument in favor of an open source, a royalty-free video codec that will keep pace with the evolution of video traffic. Additionally, we argue that the availability of a state-of-the-art, royalty-free codec levels the playing field, allowing small content owners, and application developers to compete with the larger companies that operate in this space.