Multimedia Standards
Licensing Information
This document outlines licensing costs and contact information for major multimedia standards and technology in use and in future use that is of interest to companies building next generation multimedia products. Most licensing facts are referring to patent pools. Additional costs would be high quality encoder and potentially decoder implementations.
Most multimedia standards algorithms are asymmetrical. In other words, the encoders require much more processing power and are much more complex both algorithmically as well as computationally. This is due to the concept that encoder would be used on servers, in professional broadcast system in professional movie studio authoring tools; applications where the costs of encoding did not impact the delivery mechanism or cost to consumers. Finally, in most standards, except for AC-3, the encoder is not normative. In other words, companies and individuals are allowed to design the worse encoding technology possible as long as the algorithm generates a compliant bitstream. The highest quality encoder designs are often created by the very companies with patents in the various MPEG standards. The main point of this discussion is to note the high variance in encoder technology quality and to also be aware that individual implementations of coders, should they be deemed necessary for this product will have additional licensing and fee costs.
Each Standard is given a brief description, applications where it is in use, licensing terms and contact information. Gnu Public License or any sort of algorithm or application that does not require payment is not addressed in this document. Also not discussed are Real Networks formats or other lesser “player” technologies in the Internet Media space.
http://www.mp3licensing.com
MPEG1/2, layer III is a spectrum audio lossy compression algorithm. Asymmetric encode and decode with a computational complexity ratio of 15:1. Compression Ratio 12:1. 128kb/s stereo for 44.1 or 48kHz sampling rate is a typical bitrate in this technology.
Ubiquitous, MP3 is “The Internet standard” as well as portable player standard. Cons: very poor performance on speech signals, quality varies greatly depending upon implementation. MPEG1, Layer III performs poorly in tandeming. MPEG1 layer III is antiquated technology that is over 10 years old in the field of audio compression research. Many different MPEG1-layer III encoders and compression tools are available via the Internet, thus quality varies from extremely good quality to encoders that will not even produce a proper bitstream.
Illegal copying of content launched MP3 and today one can find almost anything available in free download using peer-to-peer software Kazaa in MP3 format. NO Media service that does not support MP3 could be located in Q3/03.
|
0.75USD |
decode/unit |
|
2.50-5.00USD |
encode/unit |
http://www.mp3licensing.com
MP3Pro in architecture consists of modifications to the MPEG1-Layer III algorithm that add one additional DSP module. This module, called SBR, reconstructs high frequency spectrum after decoding. This piece of information implies that one can utilize an existing MPEG1 Layer III code base and potentially add an addition to the existing code to reduce code storage requirements. Asymmetric encode and decode in computational complexity. Compression ratio is 14:1. 96kb/s stereo for 44.1 or 48kHz sampling rate is a typical bitrate in this technology. Thompson advertises “half” the bitrate of MP3, yet investigation yields this bitrate as a typical setting.
MP3Pro gives very poor performance on speech signals yet there are few implementation versions, so quality is more consistent. MP3Pro does not tandem. The Spectral Band Replica technology, which SBR plus MP3 makes up MP3Pro, is under consideration in MPEG-4 audio standards bodies as well. Thus, if one considered utilizing the MPEG-4 audio license pool, this portion of the MP3Pro algorithm is potentially available for use. MP3Pro consistently ranks above MP3 in audio quality and often is competitive with AAC depending upon the encoder utilized, the profile chosen within AAC and the material.
Designed to replace MP3 with superior performance, MP3Pro has not achieved its goals. Very little, content available on the Internet. MP3.com supposedly supports it, yet the database is almost exclusively MP3 files.
|
1.25USD |
decode/unit |
|
5.00USD |
encode/unit |
To obtain the licensing for patents only: http://www.vialicensing.com/products/mpeg2aac/standard.html
To obtain
high quality implementations: amm_info@iis.fraunhofer.de
The AAC specification supports up to 48 full-frequency range audio channels. Asymmetric encode and decode in computational complexity. Compression ratio is 18:1. 64kb/s stereo for 44.1 or 48kHz sampling rate is a typical bitrate in this technology. 128kb/s (as well as 96kb/s) stereo @ 44.1kHz was determined to be “indistinguishable” from CD quality audio in ITU standardized listening test results.
AAC performs fairly well with speech signals down to 24kb/s stereo. yet, when compared to state of the art speech compression, AAC is inferior to ACELP based vocoders. AAC is not designed for tandeming yet performs better than MPEG1, Layer III. MPEG2-AAC has consistently ranked as the best of show for audio compression algorithms. Please note that audio quality is dependent upon the design of the encoder. AT&T and FhG as well as Dolby encoders are the only versions that should be considered when evaluating AAC quality.
http://david.weekly.org/audio/iso-aac.pdf
MPEG-2 AAC is the audio format utilized in the Japanese Digital Broadcast system, known as ISDB (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting). MPEG-2 AAC is also the basis of the audio coding technology used by XM Radio, one of two satellite radio services currently operating in the United States. Additionally, the technology can be used for streaming and downloading music via the Internet, and has been specified within the DVD-Audio Recordable (DVD-AR) format.
To use MPEG2-AAC, there is a one-time 15000USD fee. Rates are per channel, so a stereo implementation selling 50k units per quarter is 1.80USD for both the encoder and decoder or 0.45USD for just the encoder. I believe this implies if one sells 1 unit per quarter one pays 3.60USD per unit for decode and 7.20USD per unit for both encoder and decode. Professional and Consumer are defined as to which market the product is targeting. Pro Audio sells less, but the compression algorithm implementations should be the same, although one could increase the encoding of AAC to non-real time on a 2.4GHz processor to obtain the optimum in bit allocation routines. Pro Audio decoders are 1.80USD per unit and encoder are 18.00USD per unit.
|
Volume |
Either Decoder or Encoder |
Both Encoder & Decoder |
|
(Quarterly reset) |
Per channel |
Per channel |
|
1 to 100,000 |
$0.45 |
$0.90 |
|
100,001 to 500,000 |
$0.35 |
$0.80 |
|
500,001 to 1,000,000 |
$0.25 |
$0.70 |
|
1,000,001 to 5,000,000 |
$0.20 |
$0.65 |
|
5,000,001 to 10,000,000 |
$0.15 |
$0.65 |
|
10,000,001 or more |
$0.10 |
$0.65 |
http://www.vialicensing.com/products/mpeg4aac/license.terms.html
MPEG-4 audio incorporates AAC above with various “objects” of other compression technology, such as a text to speech algorithm, a CELP based speech coder and some other very low bitrate encoding tools. Most products are using MPEG-4 audio “AAC” which is MPEG2-AAC plus a couple of new DSP modules and ignoring much of the rest of the MPEG-4 audio standard.
I find it interesting that if one claims they are a software solution in a “PC like” environment, the licensing costs become reasonable.
MPEG-4 AAC has been
specified as the high-quality general audio coder for 3G wireless terminals.
Apple Computer has incorporated MPEG-4 AAC into QuickTime 6 and iTunes 4, as
well as the latest version of its award-winning iPod portable music player. The
Digital Radio Mondiale system (the next-generation digital replacement for
radio broadcasting under 30 MHZ) builds on the audio coding of MPEG-4 AAC.
This standard has potential for future. TBD how it is being adopted. Please note that this compression algorithm is slightly superior to MPEG2-AAC yet the licensing costs are slightly lower in large volumes. Also, note that there is a discount to anyone making a cell phone. There is an initial fee of $15,000 due upon execution of the license. These rates apply to patent rights only. Implementations are again additional cost depending upon vendor.
|
Volume |
Either Decoder or Encoder |
Both Encoder & Decoder |
|
(Quarterly reset) |
Per channel |
Per channel |
|
1 to 100,000 |
$0.50 |
$1.00 |
|
100,001 to 500,000 |
$0.37 |
$0.74 |
|
500,001 to 1,000,000 |
$0.27 |
$0.54 |
|
1,000,001 to 5,000,000 |
$0.22 |
$0.44 |
|
5,000,001 to 10,000,000 |
$0.17 |
$0.34 |
|
10,000,001 or more |
$0.12 |
$0.24 |
Lossless audio compression that supports six channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio, including a separate low-frequency bass channel or alternatively hold two channels of 24-bit/192 kHz audio.
MLP is required to implement the DVD-A specification. TBD add previous investigation here.
A few DVD-A disks are in place. Yet, the ability to play any DVD disk might be importantly strategically. More I see the ability to play “sort” of content in high fidelity, i.e. 24bit depth, 96kHz as well the ability to support 5.1 or 7.1 audio being a feature that no other portable player has.
10,000USD one time fee is required. Fee is waived if one also has a “Dolby Digital” (AC-3) license. The royalty rate for MLP is calculated on a sliding scale based on quarterly quantity. Table 2 shows the royalty schedule for MLP decoding. These rates will be reduced by two-thirds in areas where no patents are in effect or no patent applications are in process.
The cost-of-living adjustment to apply to royalties in 2000 for consumer MLP is 1.154. For professional MLP licenses, the adjustment would be 1.027.
|
Volume |
Decoder Only |
|
(Quarterly reset) |
Per unit |
|
1 to 10,000 |
$0.45 |
|
10,001 to 50,000 |
$0.33 |
|
50,001 to 250,000 |
$0.17 |
|
250,000 to 1,000,000 |
$0.12 |
|
1,000,001 or more |
$0.08 |
Based on the total number of products sold per quarter, the table below illustrates the average per-product royalty rates.
|
Volume |
DVD Player with MLP |
|
(Quarterly reset) |
AVERAGE rate/Per unit |
|
< 10,000 |
$0.45 |
|
50,000 |
$0.35 |
|
100,000 |
$0.26 |
|
250,000 |
$0.21 |
|
500,000 |
$0.16 |
|
1,000,000 |
$0.14 |
|
2,500,00 |
$0.10 |
AC-3 is a 5.1 compression algorithm supporting six channels of audio encoding.
(Five discrete full spectrum channels and one channel carrying the low frequency response of the entire audio signal). Typical bitrates for 5.1 compression are 320kb/s @ 48kHz sampling rate. AC-3 does not support 96kHz-sampling rates.
AC-3 does poor in tandeming. Dolby has created a new compression algorithm, Dolby E, which does tandem and is used as an intermediary step in audio production studios. All content is finally encoded to AC-3 compliant bitstreams.
Dolby AC-3 decoder has the capability to downmix a 5.1 audio stream into stereo output. Spatialization algorithms can then operate on the stereo downmix for stereo reproduction systems.
All DVD-V content has AC-3 encoding in the United States as well as some laserdisc.
AC-3 is the standard for HDTV audio broadcast.
Below are patents only, not the software for use of AC-3 (Dolby Digital). Software implementations will be an additional cost.
|
0.40USD (stereo) to 0.60USD (5.1) |
decode/unit |
|
TBD from memory 8.00USD |
encode/unit |
http://www.mpegla.com
MPEG-2 is a “generic” lossy video compression algorithm with typical bitrates from 2 to 15 Mbits/sec.
MPEG-2 is a generic video coding system supporting a diverse range of applications. Different algorithmic 'tools', developed for many applications, have been integrated into the full standard. To implement all the features of the standard in all decoders is unnecessarily complex and a waste of bandwidth, so a small number of subsets of the full standard, known as profiles and levels, have been defined. A profile is a subset of algorithmic tools and a level identifies a set of constraints on parameter values (such as picture size and bit rate). Video playback or decoders are only required to support the corresponding subset of the full standard defined by the profile.
For example, MPEG-2
Main Profile, Main Level allows frame sizes between 16 to 720 pixels
horizontally and 16 to 576 pixels vertically. DVD, however only supports a
subset of frame sizes.
MPEG-2 video and transport layer is part of the DVD-V specification, DBS system as well as the most common algorithm for Digital Cable and the choice of HDTV. MPEG-2 video is the most common video compression algorithm in use.
|
$2.50/unit decode |
|
$2.50/unit encode (personal use) |
http://www.mpegla.com
Set of video compression tools or objects to compress video and synthetic video in a variety of applications. Introduces object-oriented video encoding which can compress arbitrary shapes within a video image as well as superimpose images in a composite tool.
MPEG-4 Video supports a wide range of bitrates from the very low 5kbits/sec to a newly added Digital Cinema profile. MPEG has ratified versions 1 and 2 but new additions are emerging in further versions of the MPEG-4 standard. MPEG-4, visual part 10 is the work of most interest to content providers. This profile promises DVD video quality at 1Mb/s in tests. This fact implies that reasonable quality video can be streamed at lower broadband rates and rush the Internet based VoD market.
Apple as well as DivX use MPEG-4 but it is not the newer part 10 version that all are excited about. Much of the intellectual property of the part 10 video profile is currently in Windows Media Player. Due to MPEG-4 based DivX being the “new MP3” format of media, MPEG-4 video will surely be important in the future.
Licensing for MPEG-4 visual is currently in a state of flux. MPEG-4, visual part 10 is an emerging technology that is state of the art in terms of object oriented compression techniques and for scalable applications. Meetings are currently underway to determine the licensing terms for MPEG-4, part 10.
Below are intermediate terms for other sections of the MPEG-4 visual standard, which are not state of the art video compression technologies. Parsing through a PowerPoint presentation I believe this product comes under two categories the VTR and the wireless portable player device,. Both categories have the same royalty structure.
|
Consumer Recorded
Video decoders (make, sell and use) = $0.25 per unit ($0.24 w/o reporting
country of mfg/sale) Annual Cap = $1,000,000 per legal entity First 50,000 units/year = no charge |
|
Consumer Recorded Video encoders (make, sell
and use) = $0.25 per unit ($0.24 w/o reporting country of mfg/sale Annual Cap = $1,000,000 per legal entity First 50,000 units/year = no charge |
|
Stored Video encoder
(make, sell and use) $.01/30 min ($0.0096/30 min w/o reporting
country) to $.04/movie ($0.0384/movie w/o reporting
country) 5 yrs or less in age $.005/30 min ($0.0048/30 min w/o reporting
country) to $.02/movie ($0.0192/movie w/o reporting country) > 5 yrs in
age $.002 for 12 min or less ($0.00192 w/o reporting country) •No cap, no threshold Licensee is replicator or transmitter
|
http://www.dvdforum.org/format-format.htm
1. The DVD Formats being licensed under the Format/Logo Licensing program include; DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio, DVD-R (3.9 GB), DVD-R for General, DVD-R for Authoring, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM (2.6 GB and 4.7 GB) and DVD Video Recording. These Formats have been approved and authorized by the DVD Forum.
2. DVD Products that need to be Licensed are: any product that uses the technological information disclosed in the corresponding DVD Format Book(s) -- DVD discs, DVD drives, DVD players, DVD recorders, DVD decoders (including software decoder), integrated products such as PCs, authoring tools, integrated circuits and encoders.
3. License Fees are required for the right to use the Format Books. The License Fee is US$10,000 per DVD Format for each Product Category, as specified in Schedule A-1 of the Format/Logo License Agreement. The License also allows use of the DVD Logo when applicable.
4. Verification is required for DVD products marketed under the DVD Logo. The Verification process assures the consumers that products bearing the DVD Logo are better compliant with the Specifications contained in the applicable DVD Format Book(s).
In addition, Philips has additional licensing information
http://www.licensing.philips.com/includes/download.php?id=1016&filename=1016.pdf
|
DVD-ROM |
5.00USD per unit |
|
If product certificated |
3.50USD per unit. |
|
Video CD player is an additional |
2.50USD per unit. |
|
DVD-RW (includes DVD player) |
6.50USD per unit |
|
DVD-RW-R (includes DVD player) |
8.50USD per unit |
|
System licensing includes MPEG-2 audio but NOT AC-3
or MPEG2 video |
http://www.licensing.philips.com/licensees/conditions/sacd/
Super Audio CD format.
A SACD is multi-channel mastered. This means that all the (six channel track and the two channel track) channels exist on the layer and are all made for the SACD.
Content seems to be
for audiophiles. Sony has quite a
number available for purchase.
Initial payment of 25,000USD or 5,000USD if comprehensive CD license has already been purchased is required.
|
Running royalty of 2% NET, with a MIN 1.5USD and MAX40USD per unit. |
http://www.divxnetworks.com
DivX encoding uses mp3 compression for audio and MPEG-layer 4 compression for video. The website claims high quality audio. TBD.
DivX allows movies from DVD’s to be ripped and compressed to sizes small enough to fit on regular CD’s without any substantial loss in quality as well as shared via the Internet.
DivX was originally
developed by a company called Digital Video Express as a video rental
technology to compete with DVD’s. The original idea was that users would
be able to buy DivX players (that played both DVD’s and DivX discs) and buy
low-cost DivX discs. The user would be able to watch the movies on the
DivX discs for 48 hours, after which they would choose to either throw away the
disc or purchase it. In June 1999, Digital Video Express discontinued
operations due to lack of support from studios and other retailers. Cirrus Logic is supporting DivX
implementation for Interactive DVD players.
DivX is the new “MP3” for downloading illegal movies and even paying ones from the Internet. Seemingly, this is the illegal copying tool being adopted. 80 Million users have downloaded the free DivX encoding and playback tools.
NOTE licensing terms have not been communicated; waiting on email response. DivX also is offering a DRM, TBD but if DivX is the format to rip illegal copies of movies and post them to the Internet, this seems like an oxymoron.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/create/licensing.aspx
This is an entire multimedia playback, encoding and delivery system, complete with DRM.
Microsoft Media player is probably the most comprehensive set of tools and highest quality overall media online Internet delivery system available. Much of the intellectual property within MPEG-4 is owned by Microsoft in video and their audio algorithms also have some novel technology are have been proven competitive against state of the art audio compression. The Media player is the first to offer 51 audio Internet streaming.
Microsoft has defined their own DVD standard and four of the five record companies have agreed to distribute content through Microsoft. Plans to create a VoD service with Media companies is also on the horizon. Intervideo is porting the Microsoft Media player and SDK to Linux. Intel and Microsoft are making a portable video player. Intel’s Architecture Labs anthropologists deemed that people would want one.
Feel comforted for Intel deems it so.
|
Video |
|
|
Decoder/unit $0.10 |
max 400,000USD |
|
(annual) Encoder/unit $0.20 |
max 800,000USD |
|
Encode/Decode Unit $0.25 |
max 1,000,000USD |
|
Audio
(stereo) |
|
|
Decoder/unit $0.10 |
max 400,000USD |
|
Encoder Per Unit $0.20 |
max 800,000USD |
|
Encode/Decode Per Unit $0.25 |
max $1,000,000USD |
Using their file format is free.