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| purpose = Development of a [[royalty-free]] video format
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The '''Alliance for Open Media''' ('''AOMedia''') is a [[non-profit organization|non-profit]] industry consortium thatheadquartered developsin [[Wakefield, Massachusetts]], and formed to develop [[Open-source software|open]], [[royalty-free]] technology for multimedia delivery headquartered in [[Wakefield, Massachusetts]]. It uses the ideas and principles of open [[Web standards|web standard]] development to create video standards that can serve as royalty-free alternatives to the hitherto dominant standards of the [[Moving Picture Experts Group]] (MPEG) and its related business model of exploiting [[intellectual property]] through patent [[royalties]] associated with patent and licensing complications and fees.<ref name="prior-art"/><ref name="patent-policy"/><ref name=faster/>
 
Its first project was to develop [[AV1]], a new [[Open file format|open]] [[video coding format|video codec and format]], as a successor to [[VP9]] and a royalty-freean alternative to [[High Efficiency Video Coding|HEVC]].<ref name="CNet2015-09" /> AV1 uses elements from [[Daala]], [[Thor (video codec)|Thor]], and [[VP10]], three preceding open video codecs.
 
The governing members of the Alliance for Open Media are [[Amazon.com (company)|Amazon]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[ARMArm (company)Holdings|ARM]], [[Cisco]], [[FacebookGoogle]], [[GoogleHuawei]], [[HuaweiIntel]], [[IntelMeta Platforms]], [[Microsoft]], [[Mozilla Corporation|Mozilla]], [[Netflix]], [[Nvidia]], [[Samsung Electronics]] and [[Tencent]].
 
==History==
Some collaboration and work that would later be merged into AV1 predates the official launch of the Alliance.<ref name="prior-art"/>
 
Following the successful standardization of an [[Opus (audio format)|audio standard]] in the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) in 2012, a working group for the standardization of a royalty-free video format began to form under the lead of members of the [[Xiph.org Foundation]],<ref name="BofIETF91"/> who had begun working on their experimental video format [[Daala]] back in 2010.<ref name="daala-exp"/>
Following the successful standardization of an [[Opus (audio format)|audio standard]] in the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) in 2012, a working group for the standardization of a royalty-free video format began to form under the lead of members of the [[Xiph.Org Foundation]],<ref name="BofIETF91"/> who had begun working on their experimental video format [[Daala]] back in 2010.<ref name="daala-exp"/> In May 2015, the Internet Video Codec working group (NetVC) of the IETF was officially started and presented with coding techniques from Xiph's/Mozilla's Daala.<ref name="NETVCstart"/> Cisco Systems joined forces and offered their own prototype format [[Thor (video codec)|Thor]] to the working group on July 22.<ref name="minutes-93-netvc"/>
 
The lack of a suitable video format for inclusion in the specification of [[HTML video]] by the [[World Wide Web Consortium|World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)]]'s [[HTML5 video|HTML5]] specification<ref name="HTML5CiscoThor"/> and the failed negotiations for one mandatory video format for [[WebRTC]] showed the need for a competitive, open video standard.
 
The lack of a suitable video format for inclusion in the [[World Wide Web Consortium|World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)]]'s [[HTML5 video|HTML5]] specification<ref name="HTML5"/> and the failed negotiations for one mandatory video format for [[WebRTC]] showed the need for a competitive, open video standard.
The emergence of a second patent pool for HEVC ([[HEVC Advance]]) in spring 2015 provided motivation for investments in an alternative video format and grew support for the Alliance, mainly due to the uncertainty regarding royalties for [[MPEG]]'s next-generation video format, HEVC.<ref name="HEVC Advance"/>
 
On September 1, 2015, the Alliance for Open Media was announced with the goal of developing a royalty -free video format as an alternative to licensed formats such as [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC|H.264]] and [[High Efficiency Video Coding#Future alternative|HEVC]].<ref name="VP9 successor"/><ref name="CNet2015-09"/> The founding members are Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix.<ref name="CNet2015-09"/> The plan was to release the video format by 2017.<ref name="CNet2015-09"/><ref name="StreamingMedia2015-09"/>
 
The alliance saw expansion of its member list since inception. On April 5, 2016, the Alliance for Open Media announced that [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]], [[ARMArm Holdings|ARM]], and [[Nvidia]] had joined, and [[Adobe SystemsInc.|Adobe]], [[Ateme]], [[Ittiam Systems|Ittiam]] and [[Vidyo]] joined in the months following. On November 13, 2017, [[Facebook]] later joined as a governing member.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aomedia.org/alliance-for-open-media-welcomes-facebook-to-its-board-as-founding-member/|title=Alliance for Open Media Welcomes Facebook to Its Board as Founding Member|last=aomedia|date=November 13, 2017|website=Alliance for Open Media|language=en-US|access-date=October 27, 2019}}</ref> In January 2018 the alliance's website was quietly updated to add [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] as a governing member of the alliance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-online-video-compression-av1/|title=Apple joins an alliance to shrink your online videos|last=Shankland|first=Stephen|website=CNET|language=en|access-date=October 27, 2019}}</ref> On April 3, 2019, [[Samsung Electronics]] joined as a governing member.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aomedia.org/samsung-joins-the-alliance-for-open-media-board-of-directors/|title=Samsung Joins the Alliance for Open Media Board of Directors|date=April 3, 2019|website=Alliance for Open Media|language=en-US|access-date=October 27, 2019}}</ref> October 1, 2019, [[Tencent]] joined as a governing member.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aomedia.org/tencent-joins-the-alliance-for-open-media-at-the-board-level/|title=Tencent Joins the Alliance for Open Media at the Board-Level|last=Licata|first=Scott|date=October 1, 2019|website=Alliance for Open Media|language=en-US|access-date=October 27, 2019}}</ref>
 
In 2018, the founder and chairman of the MPEG acknowledged the Alliance to be the biggest threat to their business model, furthermore stating that:<ref name="MPEG end"/> {{blockquote
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== 2022 ==
DuringArticles Septembersuggested 2022,that AOMedia announced Project Caviar in addition to AVM. Although the name is yet to be disclosed, the announcementGoogle was made public through a paper authored by AOMedia developers and biographies shared on the doc.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://aomedia.org/docs/OAM-September-2022jmi-3195167ProgressReport.pdf |journal= 88 SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal | date=September 2022 |title= Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) Progress Report |doi=10.5594/JMI.2022.3190532}}</ref> The Video Codec Working Group (CWG) was the first AOMedia technical group. Recognizing some needs, AOMedia created, in February 2022, the Volumetric Visual Media Working Group (VVMWG). Articles suggest that Google is planning to release two2 open formats, High-dynamic-range video/HDR video and 3D audio, as alternatives to Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision video technology. A draft called IAC has been developed for audio, and Samsung's HDR10+ will not be utilized. <ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/news/project-caviar-is-googles-plan-to-replace-dolby-vision-and-atmos |website=tomsguide |access-date= November 25, 2022 |date= September 25, 2022|title=Google's Project Caviar challenges Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision}}</ref>
During September 2022, AOMedia announced Project Caviar. Although the name is yet to be disclosed, the announcement was made public through a journal authored by AOMedia developers and biographies shared on the doc: and after a month papers calls were released with an early draft.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://aomedia.org/docs/OAM-September-2022jmi-3195167ProgressReport.pdf |journal= 88 SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal | date=September 2022 |title= Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) Progress Report |doi=10.5594/JMI.2022.3190532}}</ref> The Video Codec Working Group (CWG) was the first AOMedia technical group. Recognizing some needs, AOMedia created, in February 2022, the Volumetric Visual Media Working Group (VVMWG).
At the Alliance for Open Media Symposium inIn June 2022, 10 universities and 24 organizations (companies) participatedwent to Alliance for Open Media Symposium,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://aomedia.org/newsletters/aom-decoder-q2-2022/ |title=AOM Decoder Q2 2022}}</ref>, includingwith various [[Facebook|Meta]] engineers working on AV1 and developing the new technologies in the cwg incubators gains test for the Next Generation AOM standard. There are in the alliance efforts done through different working groups. <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://aomedia.org/about/ |title=aomedia.org about |date= January 1, 2023}}</ref>; The AVM: AOM Video Model - was created in the AOMedia GitLab repository. It consists of some tools orbased on research candidate. toolsAVM is the software codebase that AOMedia is using for its research and development of the next generation video coding technologies. The development happens in stages, and each new anchor is the codebase in which previously adopted experiments have been integrated and which is used in the following round of the experiments. <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGSXDuNtkiU&t=7201s |title=Coding Tool Research for Next Generation AOM Coding Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://storage.googleapis.com/clic2022_public/slides/Challenges%20in%20incorporating%20ML%20in%20a%20practical%20Nextgen%20Video%20Codec.pdf|title=Challenges in incorporating ML in a mainstream nextgen video codec}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://gitlab.com/AOMediaCodec/avm |title=AVM AOMedia GitLab}}</ref> - this repo based on Libaom, reference encoder for AV1 format.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://aomedia.googlesource.com/aom/|title=AOMedia Source git clone}}</ref>
 
== 2023 ==
At the Alliance for Open Media Symposium in June 2022, 10 universities and 24 organizations (companies) participated<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://aomedia.org/newsletters/aom-decoder-q2-2022/ |title=AOM Decoder Q2 2022}}</ref>, including various [[Facebook|Meta]] engineers working on the Next Generation AOM standard through different working groups. <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://aomedia.org/about/ |title=aomedia.org about |date= January 1, 2023}}</ref>; The AVM: AOM Video Model - was created in the AOMedia GitLab repository. It consists of some tools or research candidate tools. <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGSXDuNtkiU&t=7201s |title=Coding Tool Research for Next Generation AOM Coding Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://storage.googleapis.com/clic2022_public/slides/Challenges%20in%20incorporating%20ML%20in%20a%20practical%20Nextgen%20Video%20Codec.pdf|title=Challenges in incorporating ML in a mainstream nextgen video codec}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |url= https://gitlab.com/AOMediaCodec/avm |title=AVM AOMedia GitLab}}</ref> - repo based on Libaom, reference encoder for AV1 format.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://aomedia.googlesource.com/aom/|title=AOMedia Source git clone}}</ref>
During June 2023, AOMedia announced that [[Zoom Video Communications]] would become a promoter member.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-21 |title=Zoom Joins the Alliance for Open Media |url=https://aomedia.org/press%20releases/zoom-joins-aomedia/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Alliance for Open Media |language=en}}</ref>
 
==AOMedia Video==
{{see also|AV1}}
The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia)'s first project was the creation of an open video compression format and codec optimized for [[streaming media]] over the internet, intended for both commercial and non-commercial content, including [[user-generated content]]. The format is intended to be the first in a line of new, AOMedia Video (AV) formats being developed.<ref name="StreamingMedia2016-04"/>
 
AOMedia planned for the first version of its format (AV1) to be completed before the end of 2017.<ref name="fosdem2017"/> However, work on the bitstream specification will be continued into 2018.<ref name="STSWE17"/> The format is the primary contender for standardisation by the video coding standard working group [[NetVC]] of the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF).<ref name="netvc"/>
 
The main distinguishing features of AV1 are its purported [[royalty-free]] licensing terms and state of the art performance. AV1 is specifically designed for [[real-time application]]s and for higher resolutions than typical usage scenarios of the current generation (H.264) of video formats.<ref name="StreamingMedia2016-06"/>
 
In 2019, Sisvel International formed a [[patent pool]] for selling licenses to intellectual property it anticipates will be necessary to comply with the [[AV1]] standard. AOMedia said this was contrary to its goal of a standard developed entirely with free, donated technology owned by the organization. Sisvel anticipates AV1 will require patented technology developed outside the AOMedia member organizations.<ref name="Pennington 2020 f714">{{cite web | last=Pennington | first=Adrian | title=Sisvel Announces AV1 Patent Pool | website=Streaming Media Magazine | date=March 10, 2020 | url=https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=139636 | access-date=October 13, 2023}}</ref>
 
==Operation and structure==
The Alliance is incorporated in the US as a tax-exempt non-profit organization and a subsidiary "project" of the independent [[Joint Development Foundation]] (JDF), also headquartered in Wakefield.
 
The Alliance willintends to release new video codecs as [[free software]] under the [[BSD 2-Clause License]]. It adopted the patent rules of the [[World Wide Web Consortium|W3C]]<ref name="patent-policy"/> which mandate technology contributors to disclose all patents that may be relevant and to agree to a royalty-free patent license.<ref name="patent-disclosure"/> The Alliance's patent license contains a [[defensive termination]] clause to discourage patent lawsuits.
 
Software development happens in the open<ref name="StreamingMedia2016-04"/> using a public source code repository<ref name="StreamingMedia2016-06"/> and [[issue tracking system]], and welcomes contributions from the general public. Contributions have to pass internal reviews and gain consensus for their adoption. Different sub-groups inside the Alliance handle testing,<ref name="aom-workinggroups"/> reviews for [[intellectual property rights|IPR]]/patent problems<ref name="patent-policy"/><ref name="aom-workinggroups"/> hardware-friendliness,<ref name="aom-workinggroups"/> and editing of specification documents.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/thvSyJN1vsA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190327214345/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thvSyJN1vsA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thvSyJN1vsA| title = Royalty-Free Video Encoding Netflix Meet-up | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
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===Governing members===
As of November 2021:<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=aomedia|url=https://aomedia.org/membership/members/|access-date=November 22, 2021|website=Alliance for Open Media|title=They Developed It. They Benefit From It. They Stand Behind It. <nowiki>|</nowiki> Alliance for Open Media}}</ref>{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Amazon.com (company)|Amazon]]
* [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]
* [[ARMArm Holdings|ARM]]
* [[Cisco Systems|Cisco]]
* [[Meta Platforms]] (formerly [[Facebook]])
* [[Google]]
* [[Huawei]]
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===General members===
As of November 20212023:<ref name=":1" />
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Adobe SystemsInc.|Adobe]]
* Agora.io
* [[Alibaba Group|Alibaba]]
* [[Allegro DVT]]
* [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]]
* [[Amlogic]]
* [[Argon Design]]
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* [[Gfycat]]
* [[Hulu]]
* [[iQiyiiQIYI]]
* [[iSIZE]]
* [[Ittiam]]
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* [[Western Digital]]
* [[Xilinx]]
* [[Zoom Video Communications|Zoom]]}}
}}
 
===Previous members===
* [[International Business Machines|IBM]] (previously a Founding/Governing member, but delisted from website as of July 7, 2020)<ref name="aom-members-2020-07-07">{{cite web |url=https://aomedia.org/membership/members/ |website=aomedia.org |title=They Developed It. They Benefit From It. They Stand Behind It. <nowiki>|</nowiki> Alliance for Open Media |date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707073627/https://aomedia.org/membership/members/ |archive-date=July 7, 2020 }}</ref>
 
==References==
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<ref name="prior-art">{{Cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/09/microsoft-google-amazon-others-aim-for-royalty-free-video-codecs/|title=Microsoft, Google, Amazon, others, aim for royalty-free video codecs|last=Bright|first=Peter|date=September 1, 2015|work=Ars Technica|access-date=March 17, 2018|language=en-us}}</ref>
 
<ref name="BofIETF91">{{Cite web|url=https://trac.tools.ietf.org/bof/trac/wiki/BofIETF91#NETVCCanceled|title=NETVC (Canceled) – BOF meeting proposals for IETF 91|date=January 20, 2015|website=trac.tools.ietf.org|access-date=March 16, 2018|archive-date=February 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222061243/http://trac.tools.ietf.org/bof/trac/wiki/BofIETF91#NETVCCanceled|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
<ref name="daala-exp">{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/xiph/daala/commit/9e729e892831a6c7cd09b930427db62f3b59ed36|title=Initial import of Timothy Terriberry's daala-exp code|date=October 13, 2010|website=GitHub|access-date=August 1, 2015}}</ref>
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<ref name="minutes-93-netvc">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/93/minutes/minutes-93-netvc|title=NETVC IETF 93 minutes|website=ietf.org|access-date=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
 
<ref name="HTML5CiscoThor">{{Cite news|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2970870|title=Cisco's Thor project swings a hammer at Web video codecs|last=Krill|first=Paul|date=August 19, 2015|work=InfoWorld|access-date=March 17, 2018|publisher=IDG Communications, Inc.}}</ref>
 
<ref name="HEVC Advance">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elecard.com/page/aom_av1_vs_hevc|title=AOM AV1 vs. HEVC|last=Pozdnyakov|first=Andrey|website=elecard.com|publisher=Elecard|language=en-US|access-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref>
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==External links==
* {{Official website|https://aomedia.org/}}
 
[[Category:Free and open-source software organizations]]