LinuxWorld: The BBC has announced an open-source video compression project which it hopes may one day give Windows Media Player a run for its money.

The BBC didn't make a particularly big show of its open-source video compression project at LinuxWorld in London on Wednesday, but if the codec lives up to expectations, it could soon be challenging Windows Media Player.

The codec, called Dirac (after physicist Paul Dirac), is still in alpha but by the time it goes to beta in autumn 2005, say its developers, there is a good chance that it will be as good, if not better, than anything else out there.

Lead developer Dr Thomas Davies, who founded the project three years ago, has MPEG2, Windows Media Player in his sights.

Davies was keen to stress that he is not seeking to create a product, but rather a tool that other developers can use to build their own software.

"It is an entirely general-purpose code," he said. The technologies used are, he said, suitable for everything from low resolution mobile phone screens to high definition television and even cinema, because we have used wavelet technology and that is scalable. "You could use it for desktop video production, you could use it for streaming, or you could use it for movies -- anyplace where you need compression."

Davies plans to release a new set of coding tools over the coming year.
Read more...


Source : ZDNET UK