Open Source VP9 Codec to be Supported by Almost All Hardware Makers

Lucian Armasu | Android Headlines | January 2, 2014

...Google has just announced a huge list of important hardware partners that will be adopting the open source VP9 video codec in 2014 and 2015, which includes: ARM, Broadcom, Intel, LG, Marvell, MediaTek, Nvidia, Panasonic, Philips, Qualcomm, RealTek, Samsung, Sigma, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba.

As you can see, that list includes not just the main chip makers in the industry such as ARM, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Mediatek, Broadcom, Marvell, and Intel, but also device and TV makers such as Samsung, Sony, LG, Toshiba, Sharp and so on, some of which are also part of the MPEG-LA consortium.

...VP9 can play the same quality as h.264 at half the bandwidth requirements, or it can have twice as good quality at the same bandwidth requirements. This should make HD videos load twice as fast, and it should also make “4k videos” a lot more efficient. We should begin to see it supported in devices starting with this year, and it should be in all new chips and hardware in 2015.