BBC's DIRAC video codec shown at IBC

EE Times has a story today about the BBC's showing their DIRAC codec that they've been working on for years (Slashdot 2004)

"What does this have to do with the general public?" you might ask. It has to do with how efficiently and cost effectively internet TV can move into the realm of cable TV or over-the-air broadcast.

The technologies used to encode and compress video (and audio) signals so they can more easily fit into our digital world tend to be encumbered in patents and licensing requirements. Some of these technologies have become standards because they work very well and their pricing and terms are not onerous for certain uses - notably creation of files for later viewing. One facility can be used over and over for different content, so the amortized cost of the software and/or hardware is not that much.

Where the costing model breaks down is where there needs to be hundreds and thousands of single-channel encoders for the conversion in real time of channels from traditional sources (cable, satellite, broadcast) to internet for distribution - there the cost makes use of these codecs prohibitive. In addition, many of these codecs, since they are only supported by the larger software companies interested in selling their high-priced professional tools, are not well supported in streaming distribution suites, or are licensed on a "per-stream" basis at rates that make their use again only justifiable for pay-for-view types of products. Bulk distribution of videos such as YouTube's library or the ongoing streaming, archiving and use of conventional (advertising supported) video to the masses simply is not cost effective with such encumbered codecs.

To date there has really only been a small handful of codecs that could be used, and they have not yet made the jump to high-definition. These include Flash - used by YouTube and others, and OGG-Theora, the open-source created and patent un-encumbered video codec.

From a personal perspective, having recently gone through the technical problems of creating a set-top-box with reasonable expectation of being adopted by consumers and industry, I can say that the dearth of good codecs at any reasonable price (taking encoding, distribution and decoding into account) lead us finally to adopt a Linux version of Windows Media for High Def mostly because the encoder and server are "free" with the operating system - and they account for a large part of the investment in infrastructure.

BBC's web site has an excellent overview of the technology that is licensed under the Mozilla Public License, including notes that they have reference implementations non only in software but soon in hardware too, with NuMedia Technology Ltd. having produced such hardware already.

Looks like H264 and MPEG4 will either have to soften their pricing for creation products or open things up more to compete.