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sdfdfgsdfgh

And all the embedded chips in cellphones,m set top boxes and mp3 players are going to support WebM?

Thats going to take a while - the lead time on new DSP families isn't quick.

And how long before their are optimized open source libraries like ffmpeg and x264?

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FFMPEG claimed to have the fastest VP8 decoder on the planet back in July:

Announcing the world’s fastest VP8 decoder: ffvp8

http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/archives/499

ffmpeg does already supports webm, and the encoder is quite good from what i gathered, since it's done by the same crew than x264

ffmpeg only has a working webm decoder. xvp8 (the x264-based encoder) hasn't been touched for a few months and is basically vaporware.

In #ffmpeg on freenode:

(09:50:48 PM) sjuxax: Guy on HN said this: "ffmpeg only has a working webm decoder. xvp8 (the x264-based encoder) hasn't been touched for a few months and is basically vaporware"

(09:50:50 PM) sjuxax: true?

...

(09:52:34 PM) Dark_Shikari: not quite true

(09:52:42 PM) Dark_Shikari: close, but not quite.

(09:52:58 PM) Dark_Shikari: 1) the github tree hasn't been updated

(09:53:05 PM) Dark_Shikari: there is more stuff that isn't in the tree yet

(09:53:13 PM) Dark_Shikari: 2) Ronald is dealing with his first baby boy, give him some slack

(09:53:20 PM) Dark_Shikari: 3) Google just hired him full-time for a year to work solely on xvp8

and later on...

(10:12:27 PM) Dark_Shikari: tl;dr: it's kinda vaporware, there's a bit of work done, but it will stop being vaporware in march when Ronald goes to work for Google.

Assuming you're sjuxax, thank you for the research! I think a lot of us sometimes forget how simple it is to go to the primary sources in cases like this.

As much as google can seem pretty sinister these days, it's reassuring that their strategy for implementing a video decoder is "hire the dev on the leading open source project for a year."

The encoder is good, but it doesn't hold a candle to x264. It's is still _very_ slow.

Google as always wants us to use their beta software. This thread has generated much debates. I'm always suspicious when big corporation touts ideology as their cause. Don't fall into the pray. Just asked the question "Where is the money?" and you can guess the real reason for their move. Google seems to think that they have the clouts to influence all area of humanity, in this case the audio/visual entertainment industry that includes set top boxes, chip and hardware makers etc. They are fighter all wars (MS Office, iPhone, Bing, Facebook) by spreading themselves thinly. I believe these few years will see the start of decline of Google as a company.

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