VC-1

For other uses, see VC1.
Not to be confused with AVC1 or AV1.
VC-1
Internet media typevideo/vc1
Developed bySMPTE, Microsoft, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, etc.
Initial release24 February 2006; 18 years ago (2006-02-24)
Latest release
SMPTE ST 421:2013
8 October 2013; 11 years ago (2013-10-08)
Type of formatVideo coding format
Extended fromWMV 9
StandardsSMPTE ST 421
Open format?Yes
Free format?No[1]

SMPTE 421,[2] informally known as VC-1, is a video coding format. Most of it was initially developed as Microsoft's proprietary video format Windows Media Video 9 in 2003. With some enhancements including the development of a new Advanced Profile, it was officially approved as a SMPTE standard on April 3, 2006. It was primarily marketed as a lower-complexity competitor to the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. After its development, several companies other than Microsoft asserted that they held patents that applied to the technology, including Panasonic, LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

VC-1 is supported in the now-deprecated Microsoft Silverlight, the briefly-offered HD DVD disc format, and the Blu-ray Disc format.

  1. ^ Windows Media 9 Video Codec; SMPTE VC-1 (Full draft). Sustainability of Digital Formats. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  2. ^ "ST 421:2013 - SMPTE Standard - VC-1 Compressed Video Bitstream Format and Decoding Process". St 421:2013: i–493. October 2013. doi:10.5594/SMPTE.ST421.2013. ISBN 978-1-61482-770-2. Archived from the original on June 6, 2018.