In an effort that surprised everyone today MPEG LA, that group that mostly controls licensing for the H.264, has decided to let the codec remain open source. Only a few months ago we heard chatter about them possibly decided one day that would charge any and everyone who used that codec, or at least that’s what most blogs would let you believe. Zune owners should recognize the format. Every Zune excluding the Zune 30 is able to playback content using H.264.
4 Comments on “H.264 Will Remain Royalty Free.”
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So, does this mean youtube for the Zune HD or something, or what?
Sorry Joey. It means that the codec is open source. So Microsoft can use it without having to pay for it.
However does this mean Travis that assorted content in the Marketplace might be now able to become avaliable or at least processed quicker without any red-tape crap and etc…?
@Brandon As far as I know there isn’t any red tape surrounding it now. I believe it was always one of those “The Sky is falling” things. Who this really is important for is podcasters who stream and deliver their shows using h.264. There was some fear that one day the owner of the codec might decide to start charging them for use of it.