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Fujitsu announces an H.264 codec-based algorithm
JAPANESE COMPUTER FIRM Fujitsu has developed an H.264 codec-based image processing algorithm that Microsoft will love and Google will likely ignore.
Fujitsu announced its sixth generation Milbeaut imaging chip yesterday. The processor supports full HD and will initially be embedded in cameras but it's likely to get integrated into other products with cameras, like smartphones and tablet PCs, at a later date.
Fujitsu opted to develop a Full HD H.264 codec engine for its sixth generation Milbeaut imaging chip. The company claimed the codec has been optimised for high resolution images and speed by reducing data-transfer volumes. It also said the image processing algorithm and H.264 codec has a smaller thermal requirement so it's much more efficient.
Great news for all and the worlds a brighter place rendered in HD 1080p, right? Well, no.
We're sure Fujitsu made the decision to support the H.264 video codec from an impartial standpoint, simply going with the technology that it thought best for its image processing. But, if Fujitsu's technology makes it into smartphones and tablets, which it probably will, the company will find itself in a political minefield between Microsoft and Google.
Earlier this year Google said it was dropping the H.264 video codec from its Chrome operating system. The company also opted instead for WebM for the HTML5 video tag in its Chrome web browser. Once a company decides to drop a technology it's unlikely to get much support over Google's portfolio and that includes Android-based smartphones and tablets. That will leave Fujitsu's imaging technology as an unlikely contender to be integrated into Android devices.
On the other hand, Microsoft is doing whatever Google isn't at the moment, and it voiced support for the H.264 video codec.
"At Microsoft we respect that Windows customers want the best experience of the web including the ability to enjoy the widest range of content available on the Internet in H.264 format," said Claudio Caldato, principal program manager for Microsoft's interoperability strategy team.
By default, Fujitsu will find itself fighting from Microsoft's corner if it wants its technology to be used in the Vole's kit. But it will have an even bigger battle on its hands - getting anyone to buy Windows Phone 7 smartphones or non-existent Microsoft tablets. µ
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Mozilla refused h.264 in HTML5, google does too, and MS supports it but also supports WebM they announced, so yeah I would not worry KILJOY616 when all browsers go for WebM support it seems a pretty sure bet.
The question remaining is if the users will support it, it is slightly inferior to h.264 and devices all go for h.264 so you'd have everybody facing conversion annoyance.
As for the fujitsu thing; the WebM codec also is very similar to h.264, so this new one is yet another WebM-like effort really, except focused at devices and not at the web, but in the end we the users just have chaos and will have to keep dealing with various formats and conversion efforts and will always hoping our next device supports the myriad of formats out there.
It never changes, and it's probably good since if there was only one they'd probably agree on one that was bad for devices and the web equally and be all DRM'ed and not seekable and annoying and propriety.
I can understand why Google likes webm but from what I have read h.264 and HTML5 seems to be the best implementation. Having hardware that will make this even better on cameras is a good thing and as stated before Google may just be going the wrong way here. I am all for open system but webm just seems not to be as good for the forceable future which makes me ask do we really need a new format?