VC-1视频编码新标准

      VC-1 is a video codec specification that has been standardized by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and implemented by Microsoft as Windows Media Video (WMV) 9. Formal standardization of VC-1 represents the culmination of years of technical scrutiny by over 75 companies, leading to a codec that is well-documented, extremely stable, easily licensable, and accepted by the industry.  

Final VC-1 Specification

    The SMPTE VC-1 specification details the complete bit stream syntax and is accompanied by two companion documents that describe VC-1 transport and conformance. These documents provide comprehensive guidance to ensure content delivery and interoperability. The VC-1 specification (known formally as SMPTE 421M) relates specifically to the decoding of compressed content. Standardizing the decoder bit stream facilitates independent implementation of interoperable encoders and decoders such as WMV 9. This, in turn, drives innovation around software and hardware encoding solutions.

This standardization is crucial for the following reasons:

• It ensures that VC-1 content is transport-independent and container-independent, allowing delivery over MPEG-2 and real-time transfer protocol (RTP) systems as well as advanced systems format (ASF). This enables device manufacturers and content services to create interoperable solutions.
• The creation of an international standard for VC-1 fosters faster adoption in silicon, which in turn increases the reach of VC-1 content.
• It enables continued innovation and enhancements to encode content that conforms to the VC-1 decoder specification. This means continued improvements in video quality for consumers and a stronger ecosystem for encoding tools.

VC-1 Evolution

      VC-1 supports three profiles: Simple, Main, and Advanced. The Simple and Main profiles have been complete for several years, and existing implementations such as WMV 9 have long supported the creation and playback of content using these profiles, as well as an early implementation of the Advanced profile. The completion of the Advanced profile and consequent standardization of all profiles in VC-1 represents the final step in a comprehensive specification that delivers high definition content—either interlaced or progressive—across any medium and to any capable device.

Microsoft Support of VC-1

     With VC-1 standardization now completed, Microsoft has released a WMV 9 decoder that is available to the public and fully conforms to the standardized VC-1 bit stream. Microsoft—through the update to Windows Media Encoder 9 Series—and many other companies continue to develop VC-1 encoding capabilities to drive the authoring of audio and video that creates content conforming to VC-1.

High Definition

       VC-1 minimizes the complexity of decoding high definition (HD) content through improved intermediate stage processing and more robust transforms. As a result, VC-1 decodes HD video twice as fast as H.264, while offering two to three times better compression than MPEG-2. For additional technical details, see the VC-1 Technical Overview. Content creators who are seeking additional control over encoding settings can also review a list of registry settings in Using the Advanced Settings of the Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile Codec.

       Since VC-1 is optimized for decoding performance, it ensures a superior playback experience across the widest possible array of systems regardless of bit rate or resolution. These systems range from the PC (where VC-1 playback at 1080p is possible), to set-top-boxes, gaming systems, and even wireless handsets.
       VC-1 offers superior quality across a wide variety of content types and bit rates, which has been well documented by independent sources:

• DV Magazine found VC-1 to be superior to both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
• TANDBERG Television found VC-1 produces significantly better quality than MPEG-2 and comparable quality to H.264. These results were presented at the 2003 International Broadcasting Convention (IBC).
• C'T Magazine, Germany's premier audio-video magazine, compared various codec standards—including VC-1, H.264, and MPEG-4—and selected VC-1 as producing the best subjective and objective quality for HD video.

      The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) found VC-1 had the most consistent quality in tests that compared VC-1, RealMedia V9, the Envivio MPEG-4 encoder, and the Apple MPEG-4 encoder.

Industry Support

        VC-1 provides the hardware, software, and content industries with enough information to develop independent implementations that are interoperable. This reduces costs for the industries and improves consumer experience, thus driving demand for more content and sparking even greater industry support.

       The digital video industry is already adopting VC-1. It is a mandated codec for next-generation optical media formats such as High Definition DVD (HD DVD), Blu-Ray, and the forward versatile disc (FVD) standard, and is a required codec for Digital Video Broadcasting—Handheld (DVB-H). VC-1 is also under consideration for other DVB transports, and is an optional codec for the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA).

Extensive Reach

      Because of its design and quality, VC-1 is rapidly becoming the codec standard of choice across a large number of devices covering multiple scenarios. Its low complexity reduces costs at the chip and device level, conserves battery power for portable devices, and provides better heat dissipation for consumer electronic devices. Because VC-1 is easily implemented, it can be added to silicon that already supports H.264.
      VC-1 is already being adopted by leading broadcast vendors as well as digital signal processor and chip manufacturers who recognize its strengths. See examples of partners who have created solutions based on WMV 9 (Microsoft's implementation of VC-1).
       Equally important is the integration into a broader ecosystem that includes applications such as Windows Media Player, the industry-leading Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) platform, many authoring and editing applications, and hundreds of devices from connected TVs and set-top boxes to mobile phones and portable devices. This creates an integrated platform that offers seamless interoperability into and throughout the home.

VC-1 Profiles and Levels

      VC-1 contains a number of profile and level combinations that support the encoding of many types of video. The profile determines the codec features that are available, and determines the required decoder complexity (or mathematical intensity). The following table lists VC-1 profiles and levels.

Profile	Level	Maximum Bit Rate	Representative Resolutions by Frame Rate (Format)
Simple	Low	96 kilobits per second (Kbps)	176 x 144 @ 15 Hz (QCIF)
	Medium	384 Kbps	240 x 176 @ 30 Hz 352 x 288 @ 15 Hz (CIF)
Main	Low	2 megabits per second (Mbps)	320 x 240 @ 24 Hz (QVGA)
	Medium	10 Mbps	720 x 480 @ 30 Hz (480p) 720 x 576 @ 25 Hz (576p)
	High	20 Mbps	1920 x 1080 @ 30 Hz (1080p)*
Advanced	L0	2 Mbps	352 x 288 @ 30 Hz (CIF)
	L1	10 Mbps	720 x 480 @ 30 Hz (NTSC-SD) 720 x 576 @ 25 Hz (PAL-SD)
	L2	20 Mbps	720 x 480 @ 60 Hz (480p) 1280 x 720 @ 30 Hz (720p)
	L3	45 Mbps	1920 x 1080 @ 24 Hz (1080p)* 1920 x 1080 @ 30 Hz (1080i) 1280 x 720 @ 60 Hz (720p)
	L4	135 Mbps	1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz (1080p)* 2048 x 1536 @ 24 Hz