Editing Video codec (section)

==History==
{{Further|Video coding format#History}}

Historically, video was stored as an analog signal on [[magnetic tape]]. Around the time when the [[compact disc]] entered the market as a digital-format replacement for analog audio, it became feasible to also store and convey video in digital form. Because of the large amount of storage and bandwidth needed to record and convey raw video, a method was needed to reduce the amount of data used to represent the raw video. Since then, [[engineers]] and [[mathematicians]] have developed a number of solutions for achieving this goal that involve compressing the digital video data.

In 1974, [[discrete cosine transform]] (DCT) compression was introduced by [[N. Ahmed|Nasir Ahmed]], T. Natarajan and [[K. R. Rao]].<ref name="pubDCT">{{Citation |first1=Nasir |last1=Ahmed |author1-link=N. Ahmed |first2=T. |last2=Natarajan |first3=K. R. |last3=Rao |title=Discrete Cosine Transform |journal=IEEE Transactions on Computers |date=January 1974 |volume=C-23 |issue=1 |pages=90–93 |doi=10.1109/T-C.1974.223784|s2cid=149806273 }}</ref><ref name="pubRaoYip">{{Citation |last1=Rao |first1=K. R. |author-link1=K. R. Rao |last2=Yip |first2=P. |title=Discrete Cosine Transform: Algorithms, Advantages, Applications |publisher=Academic Press |location=Boston |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-12-580203-1}}</ref><ref name="t81">{{cite web |title=T.81 – DIGITAL COMPRESSION AND CODING OF CONTINUOUS-TONE STILL IMAGES – REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES |url=https://www.w3.org/Graphics/JPEG/itu-t81.pdf |publisher=CCITT |date=September 1992 |access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> During the late 1980s, a number of companies began experimenting with DCT [[lossy compression]] for video coding, leading to the development of the [[H.261]] standard.<ref name="Ghanbari"/> H.261 was the first practical video coding standard,<ref name="history">{{Cite web|url=http://www.real.com/resources/digital-video-file-formats/|title=The History of Video File Formats Infographic — RealPlayer|date=22 April 2012}}</ref> and was developed by a number of companies, including [[Hitachi]], [[PictureTel]], [[Nippon Telegraph and Telephone|NTT]], [[BT plc|BT]], and [[Toshiba]], among others.<ref name="h261-patents">{{cite web |title=ITU-T Recommendation declared patent(s) |url=https://www.itu.int/ITU-T/recommendations/related_ps.aspx?id_prod=1088 |website=ITU |access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> Since H.261, DCT compression has been adopted by all the major video coding standards that followed.<ref name="Ghanbari">{{cite book |last1=Ghanbari |first1=Mohammed |title=Standard Codecs: Image Compression to Advanced Video Coding |date=2003 |publisher=[[Institution of Engineering and Technology]] |isbn=9780852967102 |pages=1–2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XuU8T3ooOAC&pg=PA1}}</ref>

The most popular [[video coding standard]]s used for codecs have been the [[MPEG]] standards. [[MPEG-1]] was developed by the [[Motion Picture Experts Group]] (MPEG) in 1991, and it was designed to compress [[VHS]]-quality video. It was succeeded in 1994 by [[MPEG-2]]/[[H.262]],<ref name="history"/> which was developed by a number of companies, primarily [[Sony]], [[Technicolor SA|Thomson]] and [[Mitsubishi Electric]].<ref name="mp2-patents">{{cite web |title=MPEG-2 Patent List |url=https://www.mpegla.com/wp-content/uploads/m2-att1.pdf |website=[[MPEG LA]] |access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref> MPEG-2 became the standard video format for [[DVD]] and [[SD digital television]].<ref name="history"/> In 1999, it was followed by [[MPEG-4 Visual|MPEG-4]]/[[H.263]], which was a major leap forward for video compression technology.<ref name="history"/> It was developed by a number of companies, primarily Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi and [[Panasonic]].<ref name="mp4-patents">{{cite web |title=MPEG-4 Visual - Patent List |url=https://www.mpegla.com/wp-content/uploads/m4v-att1.pdf |website=[[MPEG LA]] |access-date=6 July 2019}}</ref>

The most widely used video coding format, as of 2016, is [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC]]. It was developed in 2003 by a number of organizations, primarily Panasonic, [[Godo kaisha|Godo Kaisha IP Bridge]] and [[LG Electronics]].<ref name="avc-patents">{{cite web |title=AVC/H.264 {{ndash}} Patent List |url=https://www.mpegla.com/wp-content/uploads/avc-att1.pdf |website=MPEG LA |access-date=6 July 2019}}</ref> H.264 is the main video encoding standard for [[Blu-ray Disc]]s, and is widely used by streaming internet services such as [[YouTube]], [[Netflix]], [[Vimeo]], and [[iTunes Store]], web software such as [[Adobe Flash Player]] and [[Microsoft Silverlight]], and various [[HDTV]] broadcasts over terrestrial and satellite television.

AVC has been succeeded by [[HEVC]] (H.265), developed in 2013. It is heavily patented, with the majority of patents belonging to [[Samsung Electronics]], [[GE]], NTT and [[JVC Kenwood]].<ref name="hevc-patents">{{cite web |title=HEVC Patent List |url=https://www.mpegla.com/wp-content/uploads/hevc-att1.pdf |website=[[MPEG LA]] |access-date=6 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="hevcadvance">{{cite web|url=https://www.hevcadvance.com/licensors/|title=HEVC Advance Patent List|website=[[HEVC Advance]]|access-date=6 July 2019|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824174620/https://www.hevcadvance.com/licensors/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The adoption of HEVC has been hampered by its complex licensing structure. HEVC is in turn succeeded by [[Versatile Video Coding]] (VVC).

There are also the open and free [[VP8]], [[VP9]] and [[AV1]] video coding formats, used by YouTube, all of which were developed with involvement from [[Google]].