Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla and Netflix are joining forces as the “Alliance for Open Media” in a goal to develop “next-generation media formats, codecs and technologies” for delivering HD and Ultra HD video over the internet. The companies are clearly not satisfied with the high costs of HEVC.

This could be big
When you press “play” on any video on any device you are using a video codec, amongst other technologies. MPEG4/H.264 was optimized for HD video, whereas HEVC is optimized for Ultra HD - but these are far from free to use. Google is currently rolling out the free-to-use VP9 (and soon a more powerful VP10) codec but the company is now joining a group of heavyweight internet companies.

- “The new Alliance is committing its collective technology and expertise to meet growing Internet demand for top-quality video, audio, imagery and streaming across devices of all kinds and for users worldwide,” the press release said.


The focus is to develop a next-generation video format that is:
Interoperable and open
Optimized for the web
Scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth
Designed with a low computational footprint and optimized for hardware
Capable of consistent, highest-quality, real-time video delivery
Flexible for both commercial and non-commercial content, including user-generated content.

The first project will be to develop a video codec that is royalty free, along with specification for media format, content encryption and adaptive streaming. In other words; the whole package for HD and Ultra HD video delivery.

- “Customer expectations for media delivery continue to grow, and fulfilling their expectations requires the concerted energy of the entire ecosystem,” said Gabe Frost, the Alliance for Open Media’s Executive Director.
“The Alliance for Open Media brings together the leading experts in the entire video stack to work together in pursuit of open, royalty-free and interoperable solutions for the next generation of video delivery.”

More information is available at aomedia.org. No timeline for the project was provided but FlatpanelsHD will keep you updated.