<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>on codecs in a 'video' tag.</title></head><body>
<div>Hi</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>sorry I wasn't responding last week; I was out of the
office, catching up today. Thanks for all the comments!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>On the question of whether a video or audio tag should mention
the codecs: we're really very supportive of the need for
convergence and interoperability. For example, I took a video
iPod to an MPEG meeting a week or two after its intro, and at the
meeting I got five companies, using their own H.264 and AAC and file
format implementations, to build files that would play on it.
We've actively helped 3rd parties be compatible with the iPod and
iTunes. We really do believe in this stuff.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We also have been sometimes openly critical of licensing terms
and problems around codecs; we supported the attempt to get a a
royalty-free baseline for H.264, for example. We recognize the
value of research and invention, but we also realize that to realize a
value from a use of those inventions, the use has to happen and make
business sense. It's a balance...</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So, in a sense, you are arguing with friends; we agree on
the goal - interop and convergence - and maybe disagree on how to get
there. We do feel, however, that the HTML spec. is not the place
to achieve it in video and audio. Some have cited the SVG spec.
and its mandate of Ogg, and broad adoption of SVG in mobile, as a
positive example. But alas, all this mandate did was cause 3GPP
to write in their streaming spec., where SVG use is defined:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">NOTE
2:<x-tab> </x-tab>Only codecs and MIME media types supported by PSS,
as specified in clause 7 and in subclause 5.4, respectively, shall be
used. In particular, PSS clients are not required to support the Ogg
Vorbis format.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We really feel that the HTML spec. should say no more about video
and audio formats than it does about image formats (which is merely to
give examples), and we should strive independently for audio/video
convergence. We'd really like to discuss the 'meat' of the
proposal -- the tags, the CSS, and so on!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>By the way, these three bodies are quite distinct:</div>
<div>1. MPEG, a working group of the joint ISO/IEC technical
committee, that sets standards</div>
<div>2. MPEGIF, an industry forum that exists to promote MPEG
standards</div>
<div>3. MPEG-LA, a commercial entity who represent a pool of IPR
owners for licensing associated with some MPEG standards</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Hope this helps...</div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>David Singer<br>
Apple Computer/QuickTime</div>
</body>
</html>