Monday, January 31, 2005
Video Codecs are the next DLL Hell
Posted by James Fee in "THOUGHT" @ 12:00 PM
"Alright, I know more then the average person when it comes to audio and video decoding. That's a problem! The average person on the web searches there favorite search engine for “codec” and will mainly get a bunch of crappy sites offering pirated and hacked codec downloads. These Codec Packs, as some refer to them, are hell on your PC. They will install a number of codec's that you don't need or want. However, many people think it's the more the merrier type of thing here. The truth is far from this! Taking MCE PC's for example, the MPEG-2/DVD decoder is a rather large part of it working or not. Most “Codec Packs” include at least one (and it some cases up to 4) MPEG-2 decoders. Okay, that is a huge problem for anyone running Media Center. You now have a number of codec's that are basically wanting to decode the video, and only one can win for it to take place."
Why is this so difficult and it is getting worse by the day. Every company has their own proprietary codecs that they think are the best. Consumers are left holding the bag trying to choose. What is also interesting (via comments on Chris' blog) is the reasons why Microsoft won't include an MPEG-2 codec in the box is royalties. Excuse me? Microsoft MUST include the MPEG-2 codec by default on MCE 2005. People blame only one company, Microsoft when things go wrong. OEMs don't always do what is in the best interest of the platform (MCE 2005) and focus on their little product.
I almost see parallels with Windows Mobile OEM and Microsoft. People are quick to blame Microsoft for the lack of updates or why WMP10 is not available on their 6 month old PDA. Microsoft needs to step forward here and solve this problem or MCE will never be more than a niche product.
Why is this so difficult and it is getting worse by the day. Every company has their own proprietary codecs that they think are the best. Consumers are left holding the bag trying to choose. What is also interesting (via comments on Chris' blog) is the reasons why Microsoft won't include an MPEG-2 codec in the box is royalties. Excuse me? Microsoft MUST include the MPEG-2 codec by default on MCE 2005. People blame only one company, Microsoft when things go wrong. OEMs don't always do what is in the best interest of the platform (MCE 2005) and focus on their little product.
I almost see parallels with Windows Mobile OEM and Microsoft. People are quick to blame Microsoft for the lack of updates or why WMP10 is not available on their 6 month old PDA. Microsoft needs to step forward here and solve this problem or MCE will never be more than a niche product.
