Clash of the codecs: proprietary streaming codecs may have won the PC battle, but standards-based platforms are sharpening their steel for an emerging turf war to be fought on many fronts.

CED, April, 2002 by Baumgartner, Jeff

In the battle for streaming media supremacy, the lion's share of the booty has gone to market leaders Microsoft Corp. and RealNetworks Inc. At the same time, however, a new class of standards-based combatants has emerged in an attempt to share a portion of the loot.

Though standards typically win these battles when the dust and smoke settle, the question still remains whether the proprietary mainstays are so deeply entrenched that it will be nearly impossible for the standards fighters to break that line and bring balance to the streaming media landscape.

MPEG-4, the most promising of the near-term advancements in streaming, has gained some momentum of late, enlisting legions of companies that hope to shatter the hammerlock that the proprietary...

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