WVC1, also known as Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile, implements a more recent and fully compliant Advanced Profile of the VC-1 codec standard. As of 2006, WMVA is considered a deprecated codec because it is not fully VC-1 compliant.
Some 3rd party hardware and software decoders only decode WMVA based content. There are slight bitstream differences between WMVA and WVC1, so consequently WMVA is handled by a different DirectShow decoder than WVC1.
The codec was distributed with Windows Media Player 10 and Windows Media Format SDK 9.5 install packages. These titles are encoded with WMV3 Main Profile High Level was the original implementation of WMV Advanced Profile prior to the acceptance of the VC-1 draft by SMPTE. Windows Media Video 9 is already supported by a wide variety of players and devices." Fact|date=July 2007Ī number of high definition movies and videos have been released commercially in a format dubbed WMV HD. This codec also supports professional-quality downloadable video with two-pass and variable bit rate (VBR) encoding. "It provides support for a wide range of bit rates, from high-definition content at one-half to one-third the bit rate of MPEG-2, to low-bit-rate Internet video delivered over a dial-up modem. The Windows Media Video 9 (WMV3) codec implements the Simple and Main modes of the VC-1 codec standard, providing high-quality video for streaming and downloading.
Whereas WMV3 progressive encoding was implemented in the color space, the deprecated interlaced mode was implemented in the less common color space. An interlaced encoding mode was implemented, but quickly became deprecated when Microsoft started implementing WMV Advanced Profile. Simple and Main Profiles of VC-1 remained completely faithful to the existing WMV3 implementation, making WMV3 bitstreams fully VC-1 compliant.The WMV3 codec was designed to primarily support progressive encoding for computer displays. The VC-1 codec specification has so far been implemented by Microsoft in the form of 3 codecs, each identified with a unique FourCC code.
The FFmpeg project includes a free VC-1 decoder. This allows anyone to play VC-1 encoded files on the console.
By means of an Octoupdate, people can now play all formats of Windows Media Video on the Xbox 360 from a disc, USB storage device, or streaming from their PC via Windows Media Connect/Windows Media Player 11.
Microsoft has designated VC-1 as the Xbox 360 video game console’s official video codec, and game developers may use VC-1 for full motion video included with games.
Cite web | year = 2006 | url = | title = VC-1 Technical Overview | publisher = Microsoft Corporation | accessmonthday = October 5 | accessyear = 2006] Windows Vista partially supports HD DVD playback by including the VC-1 decoder and some related components needed for playback of VC-1 encoded HD DVD movies.
īoth HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have adopted VC-1 as a video standard, meaning their video playback devices will be capable of decoding and playing video-content compressed using VC-1. As an SMPTE standard, VC-1 is open to implementation by anyone, although implementers are hypothetically required to pay licensing fees to the MPEG LA, LLC licensing body or directly to its members, who claim to hold essential patents on the format (since it is a non-exclusive licensing body). The main goal of VC-1 development and standardization is to support the compression of interlaced content without first converting it to progressive, making it more attractive to broadcast and video industry professionals.Īlthough widely considered to be Microsoft’s product, there are actually fifteen companies in the VC-1 patent pool (as of August 17 2006). VC-1 contains coding tools for interlaced video sequences as well as progressive encoding. It is widely characterized as an alternative to the latest ITU-T and MPEG video codec standard known as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. VC-1 is an evolution of the conventional DCT-based video codec design also found in H.261, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 Part 2. It is now a supported standard for HD DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and Windows Media Video 9. VC-1 is the informal name of the SMPTE 421M video codec standard initially developed by Microsoft.