CoreAVC
Encyclopedia
CoreAVC is a proprietary
codec
for decoding the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) video format.
The decoder is currently (as of 2010) one of the fastest software decoders, but is slower than hardware-based ones. CoreAVC supports all H.264 Profiles except for 4:2:2 and 4:4:4.
CoreAVC now supports two forms of GPU hardware acceleration for h.264 decoding on Windows. NVIDIA with CUDA and DXVA for both ATI and NVIDIA hardware.
CoreAVC is included as a part of the CorePlayer Multimedia Framework and was being used in the now defunct desktop client by Joost
a system that was distributing videos over the Internet using peer-to-peer TV technology
.
project named CoreAVC-For-Linux hosted at Google Code
patches the loader code in the open source media player program MPlayer
and allows it to use the Windows only CoreAVC DirectShow
filter in Free Software
environments. It does not include CoreAVC, but simply allows MPlayer to make use of it. This project also contains patches to use the proprietary codec in MythTV
, open source software for Home Theater Personal Computers and the media player xine
.
In May 2008 the CoreAVC-For-Linux project was taken down by Google due to a DMCA complaint. There was speculation about this DMCA complaint, because the project as a wrapper did not use any copyrighted material, but maybe reverse engineering
techniques were used without prior permission, which CoreCodec, Inc. interpreted as a violation of the DMCA. CoreCodec has stated that reverse engineering was the reason, and it was in error and has apologized to the community. The project is now back online, having been recognized and supported by CoreCodec.
s Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, as well as mobile/embedded operating systems like PalmOS, Symbian, Windows CE and Windows Mobile - although the Linux version is not available as retail but only for OEM
s. CoreAVC runs not only on 32bit and 64bit x86, but also on PPC
(including Altivec
-Support), ARM9, ARM11
and MIPS
. As for GPUs, supported are Intel 2700G
, ATI Imageon
, Marvell Monahan, (limited) Qualcomm QTv. The Windows version supports CUDA
and DXVA
for accelerated video decoding on computers with Nvidia
and ATI
video cards, respectively.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
for decoding the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) video format.
The decoder is currently (as of 2010) one of the fastest software decoders, but is slower than hardware-based ones. CoreAVC supports all H.264 Profiles except for 4:2:2 and 4:4:4.
CoreAVC now supports two forms of GPU hardware acceleration for h.264 decoding on Windows. NVIDIA with CUDA and DXVA for both ATI and NVIDIA hardware.
CoreAVC is included as a part of the CorePlayer Multimedia Framework and was being used in the now defunct desktop client by Joost
Joost
Joost is an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis . During 2007-8 Joost used peer-to-peer TV technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in late 2008 this was migrated to use a Flash-based Web player instead.Joost began development in 2006...
a system that was distributing videos over the Internet using peer-to-peer TV technology
P2PTV
The term P2PTV refers to peer-to-peer software applications designed to redistribute video streams in real time on a P2P network; the distributed video streams are typically TV channels from all over the world but may also come from other sources...
.
The CoreAVC-For-Linux DMCA complaint
An open sourceOpen source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
project named CoreAVC-For-Linux hosted at Google Code
Google Code
Google Code is Google's site for developer tools, APIs and technical resources. The site contains documentation on using Google developer tools and APIs—including discussion groups and blogs for developers using Google's developer products....
patches the loader code in the open source media player program MPlayer
MPlayer
MPlayer is a free and open source media player. The program is available for all major operating systems, including Linux and other Unix-like systems, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Versions for OS/2, Syllable, AmigaOS and MorphOS are also available. The Windows version works, with some minor...
and allows it to use the Windows only CoreAVC DirectShow
DirectShow
DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology...
filter in Free Software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
environments. It does not include CoreAVC, but simply allows MPlayer to make use of it. This project also contains patches to use the proprietary codec in MythTV
MythTV
MythTV is a free and open source home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface" design for the living-room TV, and turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network streaming digital video recorder, a digital multimedia home entertainment system, or home theater...
, open source software for Home Theater Personal Computers and the media player xine
Xine
xine is a multimedia playback engine for Unix-like operating systems released under the GNU General Public License. xine is built around a shared library that supports different frontend player applications. Another important feature of xine is the ability to manually correct the synchronization...
.
In May 2008 the CoreAVC-For-Linux project was taken down by Google due to a DMCA complaint. There was speculation about this DMCA complaint, because the project as a wrapper did not use any copyrighted material, but maybe reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
techniques were used without prior permission, which CoreCodec, Inc. interpreted as a violation of the DMCA. CoreCodec has stated that reverse engineering was the reason, and it was in error and has apologized to the community. The project is now back online, having been recognized and supported by CoreCodec.
Multi-Platform support
In early 2008, due to popular demand, CoreCodec ported the until then Windows-only to a plethora of platforms and CPU architectures. CoreAVC is now supported on the operating systemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, as well as mobile/embedded operating systems like PalmOS, Symbian, Windows CE and Windows Mobile - although the Linux version is not available as retail but only for OEM
OEM
OEM means the original manufacturer of a component for a product, which may be resold by another company.OEM may also refer to:-Computing:* OEM font, or OEM-US, the original character set of the IBM PC, circa 1981...
s. CoreAVC runs not only on 32bit and 64bit x86, but also on PPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
(including Altivec
AltiVec
AltiVec is a floating point and integer SIMD instruction set designed and owned by Apple, IBM and Freescale Semiconductor, formerly the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola, , and implemented on versions of the PowerPC including Motorola's G4, IBM's G5 and POWER6 processors, and P.A. Semi's...
-Support), ARM9, ARM11
ARM11
ARM11 is an ARM architecture 32-bit RISC microprocessor family which introduced the ARMv6 architectural additions. These include SIMD media instructions, multiprocessor support and a new cache architecture...
and MIPS
MIPS architecture
MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
. As for GPUs, supported are Intel 2700G
Intel 2700G
Intel 2700G is a low power graphics co-processor for the XScale PXA27x processor. It is built on PowerVR MBX Lite and MVED1 technology.-2700G3:...
, ATI Imageon
Imageon
The Imageon is a line of media processors developed by ATI providing graphics acceleration and other multimedia features for handheld devices such as mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants ....
, Marvell Monahan, (limited) Qualcomm QTv. The Windows version supports CUDA
CUDA
CUDA or Compute Unified Device Architecture is a parallel computing architecture developed by Nvidia. CUDA is the computing engine in Nvidia graphics processing units that is accessible to software developers through variants of industry standard programming languages...
and DXVA
DXVA
DirectX Video Acceleration is a Microsoft API specification for the Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platforms that allows video decoding to be hardware accelerated. The pipeline allows certain CPU-intensive operations such as iDCT, motion compensation and deinterlacing to be offloaded to the GPU...
for accelerated video decoding on computers with Nvidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
and ATI
Ati
As a word, Ati may refer to:* Ati, a town in Chad* Ati, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines* Ati-Atihan Festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines* Ati, a queen of the fabled Land of Punt in Africa...
video cards, respectively.