CoreAVC

CoreAVC Video Codec

Developer(s)	CoreCodec, Inc.
Initial release	?
Stable release	1.9.5.0  (March 16, 2009) [+/−]
Preview release	none [+/−]
Written in	?
Operating system	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (OEM only), Symbian, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Windows Smartphone, PalmOS
Available in	?
Type	Codec
License	Proprietary
Website	www.coreavc.com

CoreAVC is a proprietary codec for decoding the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) video format.

The decoder is currently one of the fastest software decoders, and even matches some hardware-based ones.^[1] This may allow computers with less processing power to play back lower-resolution AVC video content, and computers with more processing power to play high-definition video. CoreAVC supports all H.264 Profiles except for 4:2:2 and 4:4:4.

The price for the CoreAVC codec with the most features is around $15. ^[2]

CoreAVC is included as a part of the CorePlayer Multimedia Framework and was being used in the now defunct desktop client by Joost^[3] a system that was distributing videos over the Internet using peer-to-peer TV technology.

The CoreAVC-For-Linux DMCA complaint

An open source project named CoreAVC-For-Linux hosted at Google Code patches the loader code in the open source media player program MPlayer and allows it to use the Windows only CoreAVC DirectShow filter in Free Software environments. It does not include CoreAVC, but simply allows MPlayer to make use of it. This project also contains patches to use the proprietary codec in MythTV, open source software for Home Theater Personal Computers and the media player xine.

In May 2008 the CoreAVC-For-Linux project was taken down by Google due to a DMCA complaint.^[4] There was speculation about this DMCA complaint, because the project as a wrapper did not use any copyrighted material, but maybe reverse engineering techniques were used without prior permission, which CoreCodec, Inc. interpreted as a violation of the DMCA.^[5] CoreCodec has stated that reverse engineering was the reason, and it was in error^[6] and has apologized to the community.^[7] The project is now back online, having been recognized by CoreCodec.

Multi-Platform support

In early 2008, due to popular demand, CoreCodec ported the until then Windows-only CoreAVC to a plethora of platforms and CPU architectures, even including several GPUs. Now Windows, MacOS X and Linux are supported, as well as mobile/embedded operating systems like PalmOS, Symbian, Windows CE and Windows for Smartphones - although the Linux-version is not available as retail but only for OEMs. Along with the new operating systems, several new CPU architectures are now supported. CoreAVC (now renamed to CorePlayer Desktop/Mobile) now runs not only on 32- and 64-bit-x86, but also on PPC (including Altivec-Support), ARM9, ARM11 and MIPS. As for GPUs, supported are Intel 2700g, ATI Imageon, Marvell Monahan, (limited) Qualcomm QTv, with support for more GPUs announced as "coming soon".

Nvidia CUDA Support

On February 10th 2009, CoreCodec released ^[8] an update to CoreAVC that implemented support for Nvidia CUDA. CUDA allows selected Nvidia graphics cards to assist in the decoding of video.

References

External links

• The CoreAVC H.264 Homepage
• CoreCodec Homepage
• CorePlayer (multiplatform)
• Doom9.org Discussion on CoreAVC
• Openlaw - the current US law and Reverse Engineering
• coreavc-for-linux - Google Code