[theora] Guess everyone saw this already?

[Basil Mohamed Gohar]

On 05/19/2010 01:55 PM, Steve Kann wrote:
> Google has opened up VP8, and has lined up about 40 
> companies/organizations (including xiph) in a coordinated launch:
>
> http://www.webmproject.org/
>
> Anyone know where there are quality comparisons between H.264, Theora, 
> and VP8?
>
> -SteveK
>   
Thank God for this.  This is really great news.  Thanks for sharing,
because I didn't hear about it yet.  I literally am feeling wave of
relief in that there are big players (specifically Google) now
explicitly in the free-as-in-freedom, royalty free codec game.

I think the battles we've been waging with Theora have really paved the
way for this, because it showed it's feasible to use a
free-as-in-freedom codec for these purposes.

VP8 samples are still quite rare (I know I haven't seen anything but a
screenshot so far), so I cannot comment on actual quality.  I hope the
players in the WebM project aren't going to be hostile to a truly open
spirit, such as continuing to be friendly with Ogg Theora as an
alternative, especially where it's already in wide use.  Besides, while
WebM is still being developed, Ogg Theora is right there in browsers now.

Oh, I'm just giddy!  :)

P.S.  Please don't start the "end of Theora" rants, either.  Theora was
around when it was less relevant than it is now, and it was doing just
fine.  It's a serious codec, and WebM isn't ready yet.  We'll need video
support until then.  Anybody willing to work with WebM will also likely
be willing to work with Ogg Theora, so chillax!