Adobe Joins Alliance for Open Media to Develop Next Generation Video Platform

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Video streaming services and video creation companies pay licensing fees for not only the hours and hours of movies and TV shows that viewers watch but also the basic coding technology that enables files to be created and displayed. The cost to license this technology has become a major impediment to innovation for companies trying to make content easily available to millions (billions!) of consumers, which is why Adobe is proud to join the Alliance for Open Media.

Along with other members like Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, and many others, Adobe is working to develop technology for open video compression and delivery across numerous devices. As a member of the alliance, Adobe will collaborate with industry leaders to create a leading edge and royalty-free video codec. Bottom line: this means faster and higher resolution video is on its way at a lower cost to the consumer.

The Alliance has made its code publicly available as an open source project so that stakeholders can collaborate to develop the highest quality video platform possible. Developing an open source project is an important step in delivering a next-generation video format that is interoperable, optimized for internet delivery, scalable across any device, capable of delivering high quality real-time video, while also flexible for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, including user-generated content. And perhaps most importantly, this new standard will ensure licensing costs are not passed along to users who want to share or view video online.

Until now, patent and licensing battles have been a significant roadblock to innovation in the video streaming world. There are multiple conflicting licensing pools and rates that make it complex and costly for companies to provide streaming services. Despite the recent progress that has been made in the courts in setting truly reasonable royalties for these standardized technologies, some are still looking at open standards as an open check book. The costs they impose slow down the universal goal of making content easy to consume and accessible for everyone.

The Alliance for Open Media and Adobe are dedicated to bringing forward a royalty-free advanced media compression technology that Adobe users can use to connect and collaborate around the world.