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RealAudio and RealVideo technology for Helix
This page includes the following information: RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10 Overview
Additional Resources RealAudio & RealVideo on Embedded Devices Licensing
RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10 Overview
Video and audio codecs are required for efficient delivery and successful enjoyment of the highest quality digital media experience. Real's newest codecs, RealVideo 10 and RealAudio 10 are widely distributed and used worldwide to provide consumers with the highest quality experience at the lowest possible bitrates.
RealAudio 10
RealAudio 10 provides extremely high audio quality and network efficiencies at the broadest range of the bit rate spectrum. By scaling from 12 - 800 Kbps, RealAudio 10 achieves the highest quality sound at the widest possible bandwidth range.
At bitrates over 128 kbps RealAudio 10 incorporates the standards-based and widely used MPEG-4 AAC codec. This enables the highest quality listening experience for consumer music services, as well as easy transfer and playback compatibility to the extensive range of portable and mobile devices that support AAC. RealAudio 10 incorporates the RealAudio codec for bitrates less than 128 kbps and is renowned for delivering near CD audio quality at 64 kbps.
RealAudio 10 also includes the RealAudio Lossless, RealAudio Multichannel and RealAudio Voice codecs. RealAudio Lossless provides 100% perfect fidelity reproduction of audio at less than half the size of the original file. This breakthrough lossless codec is ideal for professional and archiving services, as well as for those music enthusiasts and audiophiles who demand the ultimate fidelity. RealAudio Multichannel provides a true multichannel surround-sound experience, which is ideal for home theater and multichannel entertainment systems. RealAudio Voice is designed for use at very low bitrates below 15 kbps.
Additional RealAudio 10 information and sample content
RealVideo 10
RealVideo 10, Real's newest video codec, provides a dramatic improvement over our previous generation codecs. With the same quality at 30% lower bitrate than the previous RealVideo 9 codec, RealVideo 10 performs complex analysis during the encoding process to create compressed video with superior visual quality that results in the playback of RealVideo 10 content on any RealVideo 9 decoder. The bitstream format of RealVideo 10 is the same as RealVideo 9. Existing implementations require no new code development. Because no new decoder is required it means immediately that the worldwide installed base of Helix DNA Clients and RealPlayers is able to playback RealVideo 10 without users having to download anything, and that chip manufacturers who already have a RealVideo 9 decoder need not do anything either.
Additional RealVideo10 information and sample content
Additional Resources
[1] If you would like to review the technical details regarding the benefits of RealVideo 10 and how it compares against other codecs, please read the whitepaper on RealVideo 10
Check out the RealVideo showcase and the RealAudio showcase so see more information and sample content.
If you are considering licensing RealAudio and/or RealVideo codecs for commercial use, you will be required to pass the RealAudio/RealVideo Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) pior to shipping your product.
RealAudio and RealVideo on Embedded Devices
RealAudio and RealVideo have been optimized and built into the following Platforms:
- ARM
- TI OMAP
- Freescale i.MX21
- FreeScale MXC
- Freescale i300-20
- Qualcomm MSM
- Intel XSCALE
- Renesas SuperH
- Samsung SOC
- Hitachi SuperH
- STMicro SuperH
- Toshiba T4G MeP
- ATI IMAGEON
- CoreLogic HERA
- Mamurian ViDan
- Ericsson EMP
- Seiko-Epson
- Equator BSP-15
View the porting status of RealAudio and RealVideo to embedded platforms.
For embedded device developers with very limited hardware resources as well as those looking to integrate RealAudio and RealVideo with existing media frameworks, the Real Format SDK offers a "C" based SDK detached from Helix DNA Client architecture. The Real Format SDK covers RealMedia file format, RDT (RealNetworks transport protocol), RealChallenge (RealNetworks authentication), network payload parsers and decoders for RealAudio and RealVideo as well as detailed documentation. The Real Format SDK is only available to licensees of the Real Format Source Code Porting And Optimization License (see below)
Licensing RealAudio & RealVideo Codecs
Licensing the RealAudio and RealVideo codecs is easy. There are two types of licenses:
Research & Development Licenses
R & D licenses for RealAudio and RealVideo are no-cost and allow you to have access to the source code for the codecs:
- Real Format Source Code Porting And Optimization License - Client: This allows for R&D use of source code for the specific purpose of porting and optimizing the RealAudio and RealVideo decoders, as well as the ".rm" File Format and the RDT transport code.
- Real Format Source Code Porting And Optimization License - Encoder (This license is not posted yet. Send inquiries to open-licensing@helixcommunity.org): This license allows for research and development use of source code for the specific purpose of porting and optimizing several add-on components, including RealAudio and RealVideo encoders, the ".rm" file writer writer component, and broadcast DLL.
These Helix licenses need to be signed and returned for approval. Please review the summary of licensing terms and how to submit a license. Once your license submission is approved, you will be sent instructions on how to access the source code site for RealAudio and RealVideo and Real Format SDK (note: these pages are restricted and only accessible to licensees).
Commercial Use Licenses
To distribute the RealAudio/RealVideo codecs commercially, you'll need one of the two licenses below:
- Commercial Use License For Helix DNA Client and/or RealAudio or RealVideo - Allows commercial use of products derived from the Helix DNA Client with RealAudio and RealVideo. This agreement enables you to deploy or distribute the RealAudio codec, RealVideo codec, the ".rm" file format, and the RDT transport with or without the Helix DNA Client.
- Commercial Use License For Helix DNA Producer and/or Real Format Encoding Code (This license is not posted yet. Send inquiries to open-licensing@helixcommunity.org): This license allows commercial use of products derived from the Helix DNA Producer with RealAudio and RealVideo. This agreement enables you to deploy or distribute several add-on components, including RealAudio and RealVideo encoding capability, the ".rm" Writer component, and Broadcast DLL.