A codec is short for "Coding-Decoding" a digital data stream, and has been used as a computer word since the 1970s. Can also be thought of as "Compressing-Decompressing" from a speed perspective, as streaming gets smarter.
Year | Codec | Who by | Container file extension | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Quicktime | Apple | .mov also .qt | Launched by Apple |
1992 | Video for Windows | Microsoft | .avi also .mp4 | Launched by Microsoft as AVI using audio-video interleave |
1993 | MPEG-1 | MPEG | .mpg, .mpeg | Launched by the ![]() |
1993 | MPEG-1 | MPEG | .mp3 | |
1996 | MPEG-2 | MPEG | .mpg, .mpeg, .m2v | Standard for DVDs and early digital television e.g. via TiVo which launched its first Digital Video Recorder in the US in 1999. Launched in Australia by Seven Network from 2008 to 2017 |
1997 | Adobe Flash | Adobe | .flv | Graphics and Animation editor known as Macromedia Flash, and a Player known as Macromedia Flash Player No longer supported after 2020 |
1999 | MPEG-4 | MPEG | .mp4 | Standard for Blu-Ray discs released in 2006 |
1999 | WMV based on MPEG-4 Part 2 | Microsoft | .wmv | Launched by Microsoft as part of Windows. Renamed Media Player Legacy with the |
2003 | H.264 | MPEG | .mp4 | Popular with Blu-Ray, HD TV, Netflix and Youtube (Google) streaming, with Netflix (market leader) in the US launched on Roku devices in 2007, Australia in 2015 |
2012 | VP9 | .webm | Youtube, also popular with Netflix streaming | |
2013 | H.265 | MPEG | .mp4 | Upgraded version of H.264 |
In June 2020, MPEG "was closed" with its working groups becoming part of SC29 in Japan. Ultra HD (Ultra High Definition Television i.e. 4K and 8K) was initially proposed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories in Tokyo. It was later defined and approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), note, 4K and 8K can use multiple file extensions.
Windows Media Player, now Media Player, comes standard with Windows 10 and 11. Another popular player on PCs is VLC Media Player which downloads Codecs as necessary.
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