Tencent joins AV1 codec group Alliance for Open Media

Tencent has joined the Alliance for Open Media, the organisation responsible for AV1, the royalty-free, open-source codec for delivering video over the web.

Tencent has joined at the board level, which the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) said is the first tier of the organisation.

As a member of the AOM, the Chinese conglomerate will collaborate with AOMedia members on standards for media compression and delivery.

Companies in the Tencent group span a range of sectors, including social media, videogames, TV and cinema, music and e-commerce.

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Founding members of the AOM include Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, and Microsoft.

“Tencent is thrilled to join AOM at the board level to help promote the adoption of AV1 and advance the development of rich, next-generation 4K and 8K online video steaming experiences for OTT providers using IPTV applications,” said Dr. Shan Liu, vice president, and general manager, Tencent Media Lab.

“Together with AOMedia members, we hope to explore new possibilities for AV1 royalty-free, cross-platform, online video across a wide range of applications, including esports and e-learning. We are also actively contributing to the development of future standards.”

Launched in 2015, AOM was formed to define and develop media technologies to address marketplace demand for an open standard for video compression and delivery over the web.

AOM vice president of communications and membership and director at Google Matt Frost added: “We’re excited to welcome Tencent to the Alliance for Open Media, reflecting our joint commitment to leverage how AV1 can improve streaming media in new and cutting-edge ways.

“We look forward to collaborating with Tencent in our goal to increase openness and interoperability of internet video.”

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