VideoLAN
Encyclopedia
VideoLAN is a project that develops software
for playing video and other media formats across a local area network (LAN). It originally developed two programs
for media streaming
, VideoLAN Client (VLC) and VideoLAN Server (VLS), but most of the features of VLS have been incorporated into VLC, with the result renamed VLC media player
.
The project began as a student endeavor at École Centrale Paris
(France), but after releasing the software under the free software/open source GNU General Public License
, the project is now multinational with a development team spanning 20 nations.
multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codec
s and file format
s as well as DVD
s, VCDs
, and various streaming
protocols
. It is able to stream over networks
and to transcode multimedia files and save them into various formats. It is one of the most platform-independent players available, with versions for Microsoft Windows
, Mac OS X
, Linux
, BeOS
, Syllable
, BSD
, MorphOS
, Solaris and Sharp Zaurus
, and is widely used with over 300 million downloads as of November 2009.
, video editing software application
based on the VLC Media Player
. The software is still in early development.
and decryption
libraries
, such as libdvdcss
which allows the content of CSS
protected DVD
s to be unscrambled, x264
which can encode H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
video and libdca
which can decode DTS audio.
VLMa is an application to manage broadcasts of TV channels, received through digital terrestrial or satellite ways. Its interface is provided as a web-site written in Java. It is also capable of streaming audio and video files. VLMa consists of a daemon (called VLMad) and a web interface (called VLMaw).
VLMa is released under the GNU General Public License like VLC media player.
and Texas Instruments
began work on a port of VideoLAN to their next generation open set-top box.
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
for playing video and other media formats across a local area network (LAN). It originally developed two programs
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
for media streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
, VideoLAN Client (VLC) and VideoLAN Server (VLS), but most of the features of VLS have been incorporated into VLC, with the result renamed VLC media player
VLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...
.
The project began as a student endeavor at École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris is a French university-level institution in the field of engineering. It is also known by its original name École centrale des arts et manufactures, or ECP. Founded in 1829, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering schools in France and has the special status...
(France), but after releasing the software under the free software/open source GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, the project is now multinational with a development team spanning 20 nations.
VLC
VLC is a portablePorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video 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"...
s and file format
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
s as well as DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s, VCDs
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
, and various streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
protocols
Communications protocol
A communications protocol is a system of digital message formats and rules for exchanging those messages in or between computing systems and in telecommunications...
. It is able to stream over networks
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
and to transcode multimedia files and save them into various formats. It is one of the most platform-independent players available, with versions for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
, Syllable
Syllable (operating system)
Syllable Desktop is a free and open source operating system for Pentium and compatible processors. Its purpose is to create an easy-to-use desktop operating system for the home and small office user...
, BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
, MorphOS
MorphOS
MorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the...
, Solaris and Sharp Zaurus
Sharp Zaurus
The Sharp Zaurus is the name of a series of Personal Digital Assistant made by Sharp Corporation. The Zaurus was the most popular PDA during the 1990s in Japan and was based on a proprietary operating system. The first Sharp PDA to use the Linux operating system was the SL-5000D, running the...
, and is widely used with over 300 million downloads as of November 2009.
VLMC
VideoLAN Movie Creator (VLMC) is a cross-platform, non-linearNon-linear editing system
In video, a non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing digital audio workstation system which can perform random access non-destructive editing on the source material...
, video editing software application
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
based on the VLC Media Player
VLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...
. The software is still in early development.
VLS
The VLS project was originally intended to be used as a server for streaming videos. But now, it has been merged with the VLC project and use of VLS is not encouraged.Codecs
The VideoLAN project also develops several audio/video decodingCodec
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"...
and decryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
libraries
Library (computer science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
, such as libdvdcss
Libdvdcss
libdvdcss is a free software library for accessing and unscrambling DVDs encrypted with the Content Scramble System...
which allows the content of CSS
Content Scramble System
Content Scramble System is a Digital Rights Management and encryption system employed on almost all commercially produced DVD-Video discs. CSS utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm...
protected DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s to be unscrambled, x264
X264
x264 is a free software library for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.-History:...
which can encode H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
video and libdca
Libdca
libdca is a free library for decoding DTS Coherent Acoustics streams. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License license, and is developed by Gildas Bazin of the VideoLAN team...
which can decode DTS audio.
VLMa
A new project has been developed, called VLMa (standing for VideoLAN Manager).VLMa is an application to manage broadcasts of TV channels, received through digital terrestrial or satellite ways. Its interface is provided as a web-site written in Java. It is also capable of streaming audio and video files. VLMa consists of a daemon (called VLMad) and a web interface (called VLMaw).
VLMa is released under the GNU General Public License like VLC media player.
VLC media player Skin Editor
The VLC Skin Editor is a simple program developed by VideoLAN. The simple interface allows users to create new skins for the VLC Media player without knowledge of the VLC Skins2 XML System. The program lets users change features on the main window, playlist window, and equalizer window. The current version is 0.8.5 and can be downloaded on the videolan.org website.Commercial use
In May 2008, Neuros TechnologyNeuros Technology
Neuros Technology is a Chicago, Illinois-based company that produces a number of audio and video devices with the brand name Neuros. Founded by Joe Born in 2001 as a division of Digital Innovations and previously operated under the name Neuros Audio...
and Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
began work on a port of VideoLAN to their next generation open set-top box.
See also
- Google Videos — used VideoLAN technology in its media player web browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
plugin. - List of media players
- Comparison of video player software
External links
- VideoLAN
- VideoLAN Movie Creator
- VIA Centrale Réseaux — student association that manages the network at École Centrale Paris; it was within this engineering program that VideoLAN began
- [irc://irc.videolan.org/VideoLAN #VideoLAN]