Video codecs: The ugly business behind pretty pictures

[Peter]

Thomas Milne <thomas.bruce.milne at ...> writes:
> Some insight re history of video codecs and patents

It is really simple. Codec makers see this as a 'commercial opportunity' to make
money from something which was previously not trasiting their toll charging
schemes, i.e. video content.

There is no point in whining about it, it is normal for people to try that, just
as it is normal for patent trolls to keep trying to corner a bit of the market.
What is not normal, is a whine reaction from open source users, instead of
focusing on promotion of open source/free use codecs, of which there is no real
shortage.

I.o.w. the normal reaction should be, to counter any such article with another
1-2-3 emphasizing non commercial licensed codecs, such as ogg and others.

I have to deal with voip issues where hardware makers use every opportunity to
foist preset encumbered codecs in their devices, although the do not make a dime
on that, and I have scripts and procedures to back out of G729 to safe/sane G711
all the time. This is not an accident, it is a long term war, and the actions
and reactions caused by it are here to stay. I would like to know if I can send
the bill for my efforts required to make standard hardware work with standard
codecs in an Asterisk pbx context to the clever people who foist the bad
sounding proprietary codecs upon us all the time (answer: no, I can't, but with
enough pulic pressure that could change). So please do not whine about these
things, write some oganization or political figure who might help implementing
the change instead.

Aside: The craptacular "quality" of phone connections including on landline is
only fully revealed, when one uses international connections using G711 (plain
old jane ulaw or alaw) over Asterisk, at only 64kbps standard speed. The
difference between the pristine sound of plain G711 and the craptacular
'professional use' codecs used by telcos to squeeze out another 0.001 cents per
minute in profits while charging $60/month for copper line service is really
exe-opening. Note that 'bit stealing' and other shenanigans used to 'accommodate
low rate services' alongside T1 and other telco frames were already described in
early 1980s T1 gear datasheets. You can only imagine what goes on today.

Proprietary codecs are just like that in video and everywhere else. Lack of
transparency, locking to certain players and regions and a generally assured
lack of quality, lack of alternatives, and lack of relief are guaranteed. If you
like it, keep complining instead of doing something about it. And, no, I am not
a Socialist freetard at all, I just try to make my living with technology, in
despite of the unceasing attempts by some so-called media companies to finish us
off as a whole, technicians, engineers, programmers and small companies. After
all, we are just the tiny bump-annoyance between their goals and achieving them
at the (major) expense of the public's interests, financial and moral, likewise.



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