Google readies bandwidth-friendly 4K video format

Published January 3, 2014 5:53pm

A slow Internet connection may soon no longer be an obstacle to getting ultra high definition 4K video, if a new format being cooked up by Google becomes reality.

Google is now working with hardware makers to adopt its VP9 standard that lets 4K content from its YouTube service play on TVs, smartphones and PCs at half the bandwidth.

“Starting in 2014, you’ll see products from major mobile, PC and TV partners that are using a new, more efficient video format called VP9 that gives you HD quality at half the bandwidth,” PC World quoted Francisco Varela, global director of platform partnerships at Google, as saying in an email.

VP9 will compete with H.265, (High Efficiency Video Coding/HEVC), which is bring promoted by the International Telecommunications Union, for adoption as the de facto standard.

With Google's VP9 format, videos can have a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels.

The PC World report said some TV makers and hardware companies have pledged support for VP9, which allows device makers to stream 4K video from online video services with less bandwidth and buffering.

Among the TV makers that have pledged support for VP9 include Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, LG and Sharp.

"LG, Panasonic, and Sony will show 4K video streams from YouTube at their booths during the International CES show in Las Vegas next week, Google said," PC World added.

On the other hand, PC World said many vendors are to introduce powerful graphics chips and applications processors to support VP9.

These include Nvidia, which has shown 4K-capable mobile chips, and Qualcomm, which announced a 4K compatible Snapdragon 805 mobile processor.

Qualcomm's processors run on smartphones from manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, LG, and Nokia.

PC World said others that voiced support for VP9 include chipmaker Intel, Imagination, Marvell, MediaTek, RealTek, M-Star and Broadcom.

Accelerators

PC World said that while new chips will support 4K, it is not clear if they will have on-chip decoders or if they will need specialized accelerators.

It noted ARM-based chip maker Rockchip will support both VP9 and H.265 hardware decode features, while software like VLC and Firefox support VP9 acceleration. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: google, video, youtube