Does WebRTC need a change in governance?
Is it time to change the governance of WebRTC in order to keep it growing and flourishing?
Read MoreORBX may change how we develop codecs from now on.
There's a new codec in town, and its name is ORBX. Its uniqueness? It has a JavaScript implementation suitable to run on modern browsers. Ars Technica provides a good explanation of the codec and its possible usefulness. I am not going to repeat it here, but rather focus on long term implications.
I am belaboring here a lot about WebRTC and how it changes what VoIP is. WebRTC does that by enabling web developers to write VoIP apps within browsers, but at the end of the day, the codec itself is left in the implementation hands of the browsers – no way to improve it, modify it or change it. ORBX is different in that it takes the video codec itself and makes it something that is editable in the web application code.
Coming from a video company in my past, I am rather skeptic regarding the capabilities of this codec and the comparison made between it and H.264. The things that don't fit?
That said, it is probably only a matter of time until the notion of implementing a full-fledged video codec on top of the browser using Java Script becomes a reality. And when that happens, I think we will see the following power shifts occurring:
If this comes to fruition, it can open up a whole new ecosystem and power plays, where differentiation and innovation can spur further in the domain of media processing.
It is a brave new world out there.
And I am probably getting too old for it already.
Is it time to change the governance of WebRTC in order to keep it growing and flourishing?
Read MoreRTC@Scale is Facebook’s virtual WebRTC event, covering current and future topics. Here’s the summary for RTC@Scale 2024 so you can pick and choose the relevant ones for you.
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