Fluendo developed a GStreamer-based decoder to enable the use of our complete set of audio and video plugins into one of the most popular multimedia frameworks: FFmpeg. Using FFmpeg codecs in commercial applications may put your organization at risk since it uses patented audio and video technologies without the proper license.
Our Enabler for FFmpeg allows the use of our GStreamer-based codec suite accompanied by its corresponding commercialization license, thus protecting organizations in front of patent holders such as MPEG LA, Via Licensing, Microsoft, or Dolby.
Legal issues are a constant source of questions and confusion for organizations and developers working with FFmpeg. It is widely known that embedding FFmpeg core into a commercial product could put organizations at risk since this framework uses libraries that include patented audio and video technologies (ie. libavcodec). Therefore, multimedia patent holders like MPEG LA, Via Licensing, Dolby, and Microsoft are vigilant and diligent about collecting the corresponding technology royalties. The Fluendo FFmpeg enabler brings all our portfolio of patent-compliant audio and video plugins into the FFmpeg framework, allowing developers to create a fully compliant commercial application.
Fluendo developed a GStreamer-based decoder using the backend system included in FFmpeg. Our GStreamer decoder for FFmpeg allows embedding Fluendo Codec Pack seamlessly and transparently for the developed application or environment. In addition to the legal benefits, our solution offers the following advantages to FFmpeg developers:
Our enabler allows organizations that are developing FFmpeg-based applications to embed a legal codec solution easily. The Product Management or Legal departments don’t need to negotiate specific agreements with the main multimedia patent holders in the market, such as MPEG LA, Microsoft, Dolby, etc., which could result in product launch delays. Developers and software engineers can leverage a patent-compliant solution from day 0 of their new solution.
Since our solution consists of a new backend inside the FFmpeg framework. The integration is pretty straightforward (plug and play). It won’t result in any complicated software modification, facilitating the development of your application.
FFmpeg is a collection of software libraries and programs to record, convert and stream media. FFmpeg contains more than 100 codecs, most of which use compression techniques of one kind or another. Many such compression techniques may be subject to legal claims relating to software patents. Such claims may be enforceable in countries like the United States, which have implemented software patents but are considered unenforceable or void in other countries. Here is where our Fluendo FFmpeg Enabler adds value. If you need to use multimedia formats covered by patent licenses, our solution allows using our patent-compliant plugins in commercial solutions based on FFmpeg.
Codec is a portmanteau of coder-decoder. It is a device or computer program for encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. A codec encodes this information for transmission and storage — possibly in encrypted form — while the decoder function reverses the encoding for playback or editing. Codecs are used in videoconferencing, streaming media, and video editing applications.
Multimedia files (movies or music, for example) are huge, so they are usually difficult to transfer over the network. To speed up downloads, codecs were built to encode, or shrink, a signal for transmission and then decode it for viewing or editing. Without codecs, video and audio downloads would take three to five times longer than they do now.
Hundreds of codecs are in use, and you will need combinations that specifically play your files. There are audio and video compression codecs, streaming media over the internet, speech, video conferencing, playing MP3s, and screen capture. Selecting the correct codec can depend on several factors, such as the target file size, output quality, and delivery method all factor in, and others. Some of the most popular codecs are: