Adobe Adding H.264 Support to Flash
In a move that reflects a growing desire for higher-quality Web video, the newest version of Adobe’s (ADBE) widely used Flash Player is going to support the H.264 video compression standard. It will also support HE-AAC audio as well as hardware acceleration for full-screen playback.
A beta version of Adobe Moviestar, as it’s being called, will be available for download from the Adobe Labs site on Tuesday. The new features will be fully released this fall; they are being pegged as a Flash 9 update rather than a full new version.
Mark Randall, chief strategist for Adobe’s Dynamic Media Organization, called the announcement especially significant because H.264 — in addition to being associated with higher quality — is an open-standard codec. The ubiquity of Flash, he said, should cause “a tipping point for bringing H.264 for the Web.”
Such ubiquity across Web sites also means that each latest and greatest version of Flash gets spread quickly by way of visitors who want to view those sites’ content. For example, it took about 12 months for 90 percent of Flash users to upgrade to Flash 9 from Flash 8, Randall said in an interview Monday.
But while Flash has ubiquity on its side, it’s often associated with poor-quality streaming video. With no support for Flash on the iPhone and an interest in better quality video on its AppleTV, Apple recently persuaded YouTube to reencode its Flash videos in H.264.
H.264 playback will be supported by Adobe’s AIR and applications developed with AIR, which include the company’s forthcoming Adobe Media Player. That product is being delayed until the first quarter of next year, according to Randall, confirming a report today on Beet.TV.
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“But while Flash has ubiquity on its side, it’s often associated with poor-quality streaming video.”
orly? I think its Youtube that is associated with poor quality video, and they just happen to be what everyone thinks of when they think of Flash video. There are numerous examples of great quality video using the On2 codec in Flash 8 and up.
But h.264? Yes please!
Nat on August 21st, 2007 at 3:14 am - Permalink
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» Support du H.264 dans Flash - Video Monte Ceneri on August 21st, 2007 at 3:25 am - Permalink
[...] In an announcement today, Adobe says it will make H.264 video part of the widely used Flash player. What does this mean? The same high-quality video compression used on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD videos will now be available on the Web, with full-screen playback features. While Flash video has been good enough for 4×3 news content on the Web, you haven’t seen too much high quality 16×9 video in Flash. QuickTime had offered higher quality. Today’s move from Flash is a huge leap forward for HD quality video streaming, and more evidence that HD video distribution will not be unique to broadcasters. More on this announcement from NewTeeVee. [...]
Flash to include H.264 video - Lost Remote TV Blog on August 21st, 2007 at 5:24 am - Permalink
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wfstuff.info » Flash to include H.264 video codec on August 21st, 2007 at 5:44 am - Permalink
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Adobe goes for broadcast flash | Streamaroo on August 21st, 2007 at 7:33 am - Permalink
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MediaBytes 08.21.2007 | Media 3.0 with Shelly Palmer - Mediabytes on August 21st, 2007 at 9:03 am - Permalink
Siding with Nat here… Flash video is not poor quality, I’ve seen superb quality videos with On2
Joseph Dee on August 21st, 2007 at 10:23 am - Permalink
You guys are right; I wasn’t saying Flash has to be low quality. Just that it’s often associated w/ low quality, most prominently on YouTube.
Liz Gannes on August 21st, 2007 at 10:54 am - Permalink
[...] that HD video distribution will not be unique to broadcasters. More on this announcement from NewTeeVee. If you want to get technical, check out this [...]
Flash to include H.264 video codec | Television Blog Online on August 21st, 2007 at 4:36 pm - Permalink
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» links for 2007-08-21 on August 24th, 2007 at 8:46 am - Permalink
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