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Codecs

The philosopher’s stone of multimedia for a powerful decoding and encoding

Discover the power of fast and efficient codecs and get optimized solutions to boost multimedia performance across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

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How media codecs shape our digital world

Media codecs significantly impact our daily lives. Whether you’re watching a streaming video, joining a video call, or listening to a podcast, codecs ensure smooth, fast, and reliable content delivery. These technologies make digital communication and entertainment more efficient and accessible. By compressing and decompressing audio and video files, media codecs enable high-quality streaming across a wide range of devices and platforms—helping to reduce file sizes, save bandwidth, and maintain playback quality in today’s digital media landscape.

Knowing the types of codecs

Codecs are classified based on function and purpose. Some focus on audio or video, while others function as encoders, decoders, or both. They can be lossy, compressing files by permanently removing some data to reduce file size, or lossless, preserving all original data by removing only unnecessary metadata. Additionally, codecs can be software-based or hardware-based, with hardware codecs designed for optimized performance on dedicated devices.

  • Audio codecs: WMA, AC3/EAC3, iLBC, LPCM, MP3, AAC/HE-AAC, ADPCM, etc.
  • Video codecs: WMV, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, DivX3, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, etc.

The table on the left lists the main libraries for HW accelerated encoding/decoding.

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Open-source vs. Proprietary options for multimedia applications

Regarding accessibility, codecs can be open-source or proprietary, with licensing requirements that impact their integration into various products and services. Because of these differences, we offer a deep understanding of codec technology to help make the right choice for any multimedia application. For more details, please read our article on the Differences Between GPL and LGPL for Licensed Software.

We also developed Fluster, an open-source tool designed to streamline codec testing. Fluster is a Python-based framework for decoder conformance testing, making verifying codec compliance and functionality easier.

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Low-latency and adaptive protocols for real-time applications

Low-latency streaming protocols are essential for real-time applications, where minimizing delay is critical. With expertise in protocols like WebRTC and the newer WebTransport, we enable seamless, low-latency communication for interactive and live-streaming experiences.

Additionally, we specialize in HTTP-based streaming protocols such as HLS and DASH, which are widely used for delivering adaptive, high-quality media over the Internet. This blend of real-time and HTTP streaming protocol experience allows us to create solutions optimized for various streaming needs, from live broadcasts to on-demand content delivery, ensuring a smooth and responsive viewing experience.

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From the code to the action

Developments that bring real-world results. These case studies show how our solutions help your business achieve goals and enhance user experiences.

Case Studies

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Automated testing in player multimedia backend

Automated testing in player multimedia backend

video-surveillance, gstreamer, codecs, outsource

The client needed a robust video management system (VMS) application to support real-time security monitoring and playback of surveillance footage from various locations—on-site, centralized, and mobile. The system architecture consisted of a C#-based graphical user interface (GUI) and a C/C++ multimedia backend, with a clear separation between the …

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Enhancing user experience in virtual desktops: The power of webcam redirection

Enhancing user experience in virtual desktops: The power of webcam redirection

daas-vdi, codecs, fluendo-codec-pack

The recent surge in global teleworking intensified the market demand for robust DaaS & VDI solutions. A critical issue emerged from the continuous use of video conferencing applications (such as Zoom and Teams), which generated excessive bandwidth consumption, particularly when transmitting uncompressed, raw camera streams. This bandwidth …

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Providing optimized codecs for multimedia redirection in the endpoint

Providing optimized codecs for multimedia redirection in the endpoint

daas-vdi, codecs, fluendo-codec-pack

In typical Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) setups, the server handles all video processing—downloading, decoding, and rendering multimedia content before encoding and streaming the recorded display to the endpoint. This process resulted in high CPU/GPU load on the server, increased network bandwidth consumption, …

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Chromium multimedia licensing and optimization

Chromium multimedia licensing and optimization

daas-vdi, codecs, browsers, ffmpeg, ffmpeg-enabler, fluendo-codec-pack

A major endpoint manufacturer faced a critical multimedia challenge when the browsers installed on the device were used for multimedia playback in a DaaS & VDI session, when accessing essential business tools, including SaaS platforms and collaborative applications. Most of the browsers included on the endpoints are Chromium-based, the …

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Bits & Bytes

Explore our blog, one byte at a time. Our team unpack our latest news, industry insights and in-depth articles to connect you with the multimedia world.

Blog

Read more about our work

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Alpha channel support for VVC/H.266 in vvenc and GStreamer
government, codecs, gstreamer, outsource

Alpha channel support for VVC/H.266 in vvenc and GStreamer

VVC/H.266 Alpha Channel encoder and decoder with VVenc VVdec and GStreamer

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Fluendo's STREAM project: Final results from SPIRIT Open Call
government, gstreamer, codecs

Fluendo's STREAM project: Final results from SPIRIT Open Call

Fluendo completes STREAM project under SPIRIT Open Call 1: Delivering key advances in real-time video streaming, browser compatibility, and immersive telepresence.

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Fluendo awarded 6G-XR Open Call 3 grant to pioneer LCEVC-Powered holographic streaming
daas-vdi, gstreamer, codecs

Fluendo awarded 6G-XR Open Call 3 grant to pioneer LCEVC-Powered holographic streaming

With the LCEVC-6G-XR project, Fluendo explores low-latency holographic communication using LCEVC, QUIC/WebTransport and WebAssembly, reinforcing its innovation roadmap.

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Fluendo awarded SPIRIT Open Call 2 grant: Introducing AIVATAR
daas-vdi, gstreamer, codecs, fluendo-codec-pack, fluendo-ai-plugins, remote-desktop-coding-tools, raven, lynx

Fluendo awarded SPIRIT Open Call 2 grant: Introducing AIVATAR

Fluendo receives SPIRIT Open Call 2 grant, accelerating the evolution of avatar-based telepresence with next-gen codecs and AI-powered enhancements.

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