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"...implementing an entire MP3 decoder in JavaScript allowing Firefox to play MP3s without any Flash. Now I’m looking for an H.264 decoder in JS."

Out of curiosity, where does one learn about writing a video codec? Is there a canonical resource for codec implementation?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpeg-2#ISO.2FIEC_13818

There's quite a verbose spec for all of the major codecs people talk about, but sadly it's 10k(? number I heard tossed around). ffmpeg is a great place to look, but checking out some stuff on fft is a good way to get some background knowledge.

See ffmpeg's libavcodec.

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