Theora 1.0 released [LWN.net]

From:		"Ralph Giles" <giles-AT-xiph.org>
To:		"Theora Mailinglist" <theora-AT-xiph.org>, theora-dev-AT-xiph.org
Subject:		Theora 1.0 final release!
Date:		Mon, 3 Nov 2008 15:24:41 -0700
Message-ID:		<5d88ef650811031424w67c2895jf51344445d030a48@mail.gmail.com>

The Xiph.Org Foundation announces the release of Theora 1.0.

Theora is a video codec with a small CPU footprint that offers easy
portability and requires no patent royalties.  While the Theora
bitstream format was standardized in 2004 and our beta releases have
been used by millions, this 1.0 release is an important milestone
reflecting the maturity and stability of the Theora codebase.

A number of leading multimedia web groups already support Theora.
Upcoming releases of Mozilla Firefox, the world's most popular open
source browser, will support Theora natively, as will releases of the
multi-platform Opera browser.  Top-10 website Wikipedia uses Theora
for all of its video.  "Open media formats are critical for ensuring a
future where everyone can create and share media freely," says Kat
Walsh, Wikimedia Foundation board member, "and so we congratulate
Xiph.org on this important achievement."  Theora's success in these
applications paves the way for wider adoption.

The Theora 1.0 package includes a reference library using the
revised 3-clause BSD license, allowing use in all software, free or
proprietary.  The reference library uses a new decoder which supports
the entire Theora specification and is significantly faster than
earlier versions.  This high-performance decoder is already used on
the XO laptop from the OLPC project.

The package also supplies numerous resources for developers: a 190
page format specification, API documentation, example encoder and
decoder software, and a draft RTP specification for real-time
streaming.

Theora development does not stop with the 1.0 release.  The
Xiph.Org Foundation has been working on a next-generation encoder,
codenamed 'Thusnelda', which has already demonstrated substantial
quality improvements without breaking backward compatibility.  While
Theora is already the preferred format for applications where freedom,
CPU consumption, and cost are important, Thusnelda will make Theora
more attractive for applications where quality and bit-rate are the
only considerations.  The new encoder is slated for inclusion in the
upcoming 1.1 release of Theora.

Theora 1.0 is available for download from the following URLs:
http://downloads.xiph.org/releases/theora/libtheora-1.0.t...
http://downloads.xiph.org/releases/theora/libtheora-1.0.zip

Technical support is available through the theora@xiph.org general mailing
list and theora-dev@xiph.org developer mailing lists.

Theora is mature software; do not be afraid to try it.  This
release reflects countless hours of debugging, manual code audits and
fuzz testing.  A scan by the Coverity static analysis tool revealed
only two defects: one false alarm and the other now fixed.  We would
like to thank all the volunteers involved in this project throughout
the years for their hard work.  Your dedication helped improve Theora;
this release is dedicated to you.

The Xiph.Org Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated
to open, unencumbered multimedia technology. Xiph's formats and
software levels the playing field for digital media so that all
producers and artists can distribute their work for minimal cost,
without restriction, regardless of affiliation.

Happy Hacking!

Monty
Director, Xiph.Org

to post comments

Just in time for Firefox 3.1 final?

Posted Nov 4, 2008 23:23 UTC (Tue) by Wummel (guest, #7591) [Link] (1 responses)

It would be great timing if Firefox 3.1 comes with support for Theora 1.0 final.

Anyway, congratulations! I will certainly use the new Theora release and encode some of my DVDs with it and see how it performs.

Just in time for Firefox 3.1 final?

Posted Nov 5, 2008 5:46 UTC (Wed) by tajyrink (subscriber, #2750) [Link]

It has to be remembered that the Thusnelda branch with huge quality improvements will only be available in 1.1.

Anyway, thanks for Red Hat nowadays sponsoring development of Theora, and thus getting both release(s) out and doing the improvements there is room for in Theora.

Theora 1.0 released

Posted Nov 6, 2008 10:03 UTC (Thu) by irios (guest, #19838) [Link] (2 responses)

I understand that some of the changes in Thusnelda are improvements to the encoder that are actually within Theora 1.0 spec; these don't actually change the spec, but rather implement it better than in the current encoder -- things like actually using dynamic coefficient matrixes instead of ignoring them and using a fixed coefficient set. These improvements seem to bring Theora up to Xvid-like quality (quite a jump!), and seemingly could be folded into the existing encoder while maintaining decoder compatibility.

There are further improvements in Thusnelda that do exceed the Theora spec and will need to be described in an updated spec version.

The problem in all these seems to be that almost nobody actually uses Theora, so the interest level in it is low, and the developer love it receives is minimal -- Thusnelda, which is the bleeding edge of Theora development appears to be a one-person effort. The image quality Theora offers is also not very good, which closes the vicious circle.

Let's hope that its inclusion in Firefox will drive some dynamism into it. And let's also hope that it is conceptually good enough that it can be made competitive with other codecs, which also remains to be seen.

Wikipedia and Firefox support may ramp things up

Posted Nov 6, 2008 19:12 UTC (Thu) by dwheeler (guest, #1216) [Link] (1 responses)

Wikipedia requires free codecs, so Theora is what you're supposed to supply videos in (and Vorbis for audio). Wikipedia is one of the world's most popular sites. The new version of Firefox will include Theora support - and since that's a browser with millions of users, soon there will be lots of people who will be able to easily view Theora (and Vorbis).

I think that's a dynamic combination. Codecs are a chicken and egg problem - you need to get lots of readers AND lots of content for a codec to succeed. Wikipedia can provide content, Firefox can provide readers.... leading to a great potential for success.

Wikipedia and Firefox support may ramp things up

Posted Nov 8, 2008 10:30 UTC (Sat) by pointwood (guest, #2814) [Link]

You also need simple and easy to use tools to create Theora videos. Otherwise, few people will be posting videos in Theora.