CoreAVC

CoreAVC

Developer(s)	CoreCodec, Inc.
Initial release	January 2, 2006 (2006-01-02)
Stable release	3.0.1  (September 2011) [+/−]
Preview release	2.0.0 [+/−]
Written in	Core-C (Modular ANSI C), C++
Operating system	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (OEM only), Symbian, CE, Windows Mobile, iPhone OS, PalmOS
Available in	English
Type	Codec
License	Proprietary
Website	corecodec.com

CoreAVC is a proprietary codec for decoding the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) video format.

The decoder is currently (as of 2010) one of the fastest software decoders, but is slower than hardware-based ones.^[1] CoreAVC supports all H.264 Profiles except for 4:2:2 and 4:4:4.

CoreAVC now supports two forms of GPU hardware acceleration for h.264 decoding on Windows. NVIDIA with CUDA and DXVA for both ATI and NVIDIA hardware.

CoreAVC is included as a part of the CorePlayer Multimedia Framework and was being used in the now defunct desktop client by Joost^[2] a system that was distributing videos over the Internet using peer-to-peer TV technology.

The CoreAVC-For-Linux DMCA complaint

An open source project named CoreAVC-For-Linux hosted at Google Code patches the loader code in the open source media player program MPlayer and allows it to use the Windows only CoreAVC DirectShow filter in Free Software environments. It does not include CoreAVC, but simply allows MPlayer to make use of it. This project also contains patches to use the proprietary codec in MythTV, open source software for Home Theater Personal Computers and the media player xine.

In May 2008 the CoreAVC-For-Linux project was taken down by Google due to a DMCA complaint.^[3] There was speculation about this DMCA complaint, because the project as a wrapper did not use any copyrighted material, but maybe reverse engineering techniques were used without prior permission, which CoreCodec, Inc. interpreted as a violation of the DMCA.^[4] CoreCodec has stated that reverse engineering was the reason, and it was in error^[5] and has apologized to the community.^[6] The project is now back online, having been recognized and supported by CoreCodec.

Multi-Platform support

In early 2008, due to popular demand, CoreCodec ported the until then Windows-only to a plethora of platforms and CPU architectures. CoreAVC is now supported on the operating systems Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, as well as mobile/embedded operating systems like PalmOS, Symbian, Windows CE and Windows Mobile - although the Linux version is not available as retail but only for OEMs. CoreAVC runs not only on 32bit and 64bit x86, but also on PPC (including Altivec-Support), ARM9, ARM11 and MIPS. As for GPUs, supported are Intel 2700G, ATI Imageon, Marvell Monahan, (limited) Qualcomm QTv. The Windows version supports CUDA and DXVA^[7] for accelerated video decoding on computers with Nvidia and ATI video cards, respectively.

References

1. ^ CoreAVC stronger than AVIVO & PureVideo ? (April 2006)
2. ^ Joost - FAQ: Technology
3. ^ "CoreCodec complains of copied code". Chilling Effects Clearinghouse. 2008-04-30. http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/notice.cgi?NoticeID=18513. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
4. ^ DMCA takedown of coreavc-for-linux/CoreCodec Homepage (May 2008)
5. ^ DMCA takedown of coreavc-for-linux, message 5780 (May 2008)
6. ^ DMCA takedown of coreavc-for-linux, message 5785 (May 2008)
7. ^ CoreAVC Changelog (Jun 2011)

External links

• The CoreAVC H.264 Homepage
• CoreCodec Homepage
• CorePlayer (multi-platform)
• Doom9.org Discussion on CoreAVC
• Openlaw - the current US law and Reverse Engineering
• coreavc-for-linux - Google Code