"Google today announced that most leading hardware vendors will start supporting the royalty-free VP9 codecs. These hardware vendors include major names like ARM, Broadcom, Intel, LG, Marvell, MediaTek, Nvidia, Panasonic, Philips, Qualcomm, RealTek, Samsung, Sigma, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba."

See YouTube goes 4K at CES, brings royalty free VP9 to fore front | Muktware (http://www.muktware.com/2014/01/youtube-goes-4k-ces-brings-royalty-free-vp9-fore-front/18722)


Andrew

Yes, I read that too. Very interesting news indeed.

Mind you, I do wonder who will be the first to offer 4K video playback resolution on a 4.5 inch screen smart phone….just my British humour at play ;-)

On a more serious note, it is good news for those seeking 4K to arrive sooner rather than later.

IMHO, FWIW, Netflix with 4K delivery is gonna have more traction than YouTube. VP8 was never supported by hardware manufacturers, but Google did get more traction hardware wise with VP9.

Lacking critical compression patents from MPEG-LA which they would be sued over if they implemented would still mean it would in the long run be inferior to HEVC. If the story repeats, we would see VP9 remain in an experimental state and Flash support for HEVC extend the shelf life of Adobe Flash.

...I do wonder who will be the first to offer 4K video playback resolution on a 4.5 inch screen smart phone…

Time to develop a 4K phone loupe!