Project Caviar: Google is promoting new royalty-free audio and video codecs:
[...] Google has a plan to compete with the most recent and popular standards for audio and video contents controlled by Dolby, and it is internally known as "Project Caviar." During a presentation held behind closed doors for hardware manufacturers, Caviar was described as a means to create a "healthier, broader ecosystem" for premium media experiences without royalties.
Project Caviar involves the already established Alliance for Open Media, a partnership between some of the most important technology and media companies (Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Netflix, Nvidia, Samsung) and Google itself, promoting the adoption of open source and royalty-free audio-video codecs like AV1.
[...] Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision have essentially become the standard for high-end media consumption, either via a streaming service like Netflix or in the home video niche with Blu-ray releases and home theater devices. The final price of each one of these products includes a fee companies pay to Dolby, to include next-gen surround sound and high-dynamic range colors in their content.
Project Caviar strives to cut down the aforementioned fees, while winning support from hardware manufacturers at the same time. Thanks to its YouTube ubiquitous video streaming service, Google has already achieved excellent results in this area with widespread hardware support for the AV1 video codec, and now the company plans to try again with Dolby's most recent tech.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday September 27 2022, @01:28AM
It sounds like existing codecs, but with better branding.
I hope they get AV2 out the door soon.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday September 27 2022, @08:06AM (1 child)
"Royalty Free" for now.
If Google has any kind of patent or other lock on the codecs then unless Google releases the codecs to the creative commons or some other "we-completely-give-up-our-right-to-charge-you-later" type of license there is nothing to stop Google from demanding royalties at a later time after they are widely adopted.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday September 27 2022, @08:31AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_Open_Media [wikipedia.org]
If there is a patent problem, it's not going to come from Google, but from a third-party troll like Sisvel.
https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=139636 [streamingmedia.com]
https://mlexmarketinsight.com/news-hub/editors-picks/area-of-expertise/antitrust/tech-giants-alliance-for-open-media-triggers-eu-antitrust-questions-into-sep-licensing [mlexmarketinsight.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]