Google introduces Anthill hardware VP8 decoder

It's full speed ahead for Google's VP8 video codec. Now that the bulk of YouTube's video library has been converted, it's on to the next task -- which looks to be hardware decoding. To that end, Google has unveiled Anthill, a hardware VP8 decoding solution that is substantially faster and more efficient than current software solutions.

Google's Aki Kuusela said, "The H1 (Anthill) hardware encoder can produce good quality with very low power consumption using almost no clock cycles from the CPU." H1 can push 1080p video at 30 FPS and 720p at 60 FPS, and you can see how it stacks up to a trio of software decoders above.

It will, of course, take some time before OEMs to begin integrating hardware VP8 support into their products. But with Google's ties to Android handset manufacturers, television and set-top box producers, and the Open Screen project, there's little doubt the company will be able to get its numerous friends on board.

[It's worth noting that comparing hardware decoding to software decoding is a bit unfair. There are hardware H.264 decoders, too! -Ed]

Google introduces Anthill hardware VP8 decoder originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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