http://www.on2.com/company/news-room/press-releases/?id=421
Boils down to this:
There’s a new profile for the On2 VP6 codec, called VP6-S, that will be available in the Flash Player 9 update 3 (”MovieStar”) release, currently in beta.
VP6-S is a new profile designed to utilize LESS processor cycles for bitrates above 500Kbps (read between the lines: high-res SD, or near HD resolutions or higher).
So, moving forward, we’ll have four options for standard Flash Video delivery:
- Sorenson Spark for Flash Player 6/7 or higher compatibility (and/or slow device processor speeds)
- On2 VP6-E for Flash Player 8 or higher compatibility
- On2 VP6-S for Flash Player 9 update 3 or higher compatibility (and > 500Kbps bitrates)
- AVC/H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10) and AAC audio for Flash Player 9 update 3 or higher compatibility
If you’re making the decision in the next few months to push the envelope with Flash Video and Flash Player 9 update 3 technology, how do you know whether to use On2 VP6-S (or -E) or AVC/H.264?
- If the client needs to repurpose video assets in other non-Flash platform environments, H.264 is probably the best bet. Be sure to communicate commercial licensing concerns for H.264 delivery to the client.
- If you want to avoid licensing concerns and have high-resolution (high SD or near-HD resolutions), use On2 VP6-S.
- If you need to perform custom effects with Flash Video (embedded cue points, alpha channel transparency), use On2 VP6-E/S.
Those are my thoughts for now. I’m sure I’ll have more to report after next week’s Adobe MAX conference.
