ffmpeg2dirac-0.2.0 released

2011-04-25T04:48:22Z

Release v 0.2.0 of ffmpeg2dirac. Schroedinger is now the default codec library used to code video. All Schroedinger encoder options are supported.
Source code and a binary for win32 platforms are available for download from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dirac/files/
OR
http://diracvideo.org/download/ffmpeg2dirac/

Schroedinger-1.0.9 released

2010-03-04T23:38:27Z

For release details, and new features in this release go to
http://diracvideo.org/

Dirac 1.0.2 released

2009-02-12T05:01:43Z

This a a minor release complying with the latest
Dirac Bytestream Specification 2.2.3. Changes in
this release include

-Improved compression performance for small
picture sizes and at low bit-rates.
-Included macros to check the API version.
-Improved motion estimation.
-New 422 <-> 420 conversion utilities for
interlaced video.
-Fixed bugs in handling DC subband.
-DirectShow filter released to be able to play
back Dirac raw bytestreams or Dirac muxed in AVI
in Windows Media Player and MPlayer Classic.
-Released the source and win32 binary of
ffmpeg2dirac, a utility that can transcode any
multimedia format that can be decoded by FFmpeg
into Dirac video and Vorbis audio (if audio
exists) muxed in Ogg.

Note that new patches for MPlayer and FFmpeg
will no longer be released because Dirac support
via Dirac and Schroedinger libraries is available
in FFmpeg.

Latest information on Dirac can be found at
http://diracvideo.org

Dirac 1.0.0 released

2008-09-17T01:49:09Z

Dirac 1.0.0 has been released. The release tar-ball can be downloaded from

http://diracvideo.org/download/dirac-research/
OR
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dirac/

Dirac Compression System
-------------------------

Dirac is a video compression system that provides general-purpose video compression and decompression tools comparable with state-of-the-art systems. Dirac is a format and compression technology, not a specific codec. The most important part of the Dirac project is the specification which can be found at http://diracvideo.org/specifications.

Dirac Project
-------------
The initial implementation of Dirac at resulted in a research implementation which is referred to as the Dirac codebase. It is now called dirac-research. It is a reference implementation and also a codebase for future algorithmic
developments. Dirac 1.0.0 is the release of this codebase.

Dirac website
-------------
Information about Dirac and the associated projects can be found at http://diracvideo.org

What's new in this release
--------------------------
Several alpha and beta releases have preceded this release. The changes in 1.0.0 release are:

- Compliance with Dirac Bytestream specification
2.2.2
- Adaptive GOP structure
- Improved motion estimation.
- Improved pre-filtering.
- Major code refactor of encoder classes.
- Added conversion utility for horizontal 3/4
filtering.
- DirectShow Filter released to be able to play
back Dirac v2.2.2 files raw bytestreams and
Dirac wrapped in AVI in Windows Media Player
and MPlayer Classic.

Dirac content creation and playback
-----------------------------------
Information on the end-user applications that support Dirac can be found at
http://diracvideo.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page#End_user_applications_that_support_Dirac_video

Dirac Beta version (0.10.0) released

2008-06-04T08:06:43Z

This a beta release complying with the latest Dirac Specification 2.2.0.

- Added support for Ultra High Definition video
formats.
- Improved compression efficiency in both constant
quality and constant bit-rate modes.
- Fixed major bugs that caused the encoder to
crash or the decoder to go into a permanent
loop.
- Dirac support is now directly available in
FFmpeg via the external Dirac and/or
Schroedinger libraries. Hence there is no
FFMpeg patch in this release.
- Released new patches for MPlayer to enable
Dirac playback.
- DirectShow Filter released to be able to play
back Dirac v2.2.0 files
- Modified Programmer's guide to reflect changes
to the API.
- Bugs fixed: 1944681, 1906788, 1893223, 1874587

Google Summer of Code 2008

2008-03-20T19:28:58Z

Dirac and Schrödinger have been accepted as a mentoring organization
for Google Summer of Code 2008. The list of suggested projects is at:
http://www.diracvideo.org/wiki/GSoC2008Ideas?action=show

If you want to discuss more, log on to #dirac on irc and chat to ds or tj_davies. The projects are a guide - we welcome other suggestions too.

Google Summer of Code:
http://code.google.com/soc/2008/

Schrodinger Press Release

2008-03-10T10:57:43Z

The Schrodinger project have produced a press release to mark the release of Schrodinger 1.0 - here it is:

http://schrodinger.sourceforge.net/press/DiracAnnounce060308.html

(comments also on Thomas's blog: http://sonofid.blogspot.com\)

Schrodinger 1.0.0 released

2008-02-25T20:37:25Z

Schrodinger 1.0.0 has been released! The fast implementation of Dirac encoding and decoding can be downloaded from
http://diracvideo.schleef.org/download/schroedinger/

Dave Schleef's announcement email:

Schroedinger-1.0.0

Schroedinger is an implementation of the Dirac video codec
specification, written with speed, stability, and maintainability in
mind. Schroedinger provides a software library that implements both a
Dirac encoder and decoder. Also provided is a GStreamer plugin. No
end-user tools are included, since it is intended that users will use
existing tools written using a media framework such as GStreamer for
which a Schroedinger plugin is available.

The Dirac bitstream is now frozen, so video encoded today will be
decodable by future versions of Schroedinger and other Dirac-compliant
tools.

What's new?
-----------

This release is mainly intended for early adopters and integrators, in
order to work out many of the kinks that inevitably arise when a project
gains more wide usage.

Notable features:

- ABI and API stable
- Implements Dirac-1.0 and Dirac-2.1 bit streams
- Encoder is tested and tuned for SD and HD720
- Decodes HD720/25p in real-time on a Core Duo laptop

Where to get it
---------------

Schroedinger source code is available for download at:

http://diracvideo.schleef.org/download/schroedinger/

Information about Schroedinger and Dirac are scattered across several
web sites. We are working at consolidating this information into a
single web site, so changes may occur.

Project Web Site: http://schroedinger.sourceforge.net/
Bugzilla: http://bugzilla.schleef.org/
Git repository: git://diracvideo.schleef.org/git/schroedinger/

What is Dirac?
--------------

Dirac is a video codec specification created by the BBC R&D division
that provides state-of-the-art compression performance for a wide range
of video sizes and bitrates, encompassing low bit rate web video,
broadcast SD and HD television, nearly-lossless intra coding for studio
editing, and digital cinema. Dirac was created from the ground up to
be free from any patent claims. Dirac is also the name of the original
software implementation of the Dirac specification.

Contributors
------------

David Schleef (main author and maintainer)
Wladimir van der Laan (CUDA backend)
Christian Schaller
British Broadcasting System (main source of funding)
BBC Dirac team:
Thomas Davies
Tim Borer
Jonathan Rosser
David Flynn
Anu Suraparaju

Dirac 0.9.1 released

2008-01-26T13:47:11Z

This is a minor release complying with Dirac Bytestream Specification 2.1.0.

- Corrected the motion compensation block
weighting matrix.
- Fixed bug in constant bit rate module which
caused the encoder to crash when using the cbr
mode for an i-frame only sequence
- Bug fixes in MPlayer and FFmpeg patches and
Dirac DirectShow Filter

Dirac 0.9.0 released

2008-01-23T04:13:58Z

Major release complying with the latest Dirac Bytestream Specification Dirac 2.0.0.

- Added support for entropy coding of wavelet
coefficients data using Variable Length Codes
(to support VC-2 Core Syntax)
- Improved quantiser selection
- Modified motion compensation to fit 16 bits.
- Fixed bugs and improved performance in constant
bit-rate coding mode
- Fixed bug with dc value prediction in motion
decoding.
- Fixed bug in handling concatenated Dirac
streams.
- API changes to conform with spec revision 2.0.0.
Applications using Dirac libraries will need to
be recompiled.
- Released patches to MPlayer, FFmpeg to comply
with this release. Earlier patch to transcode
can be used with release.
- DirectShow Filter released to be able to play
back Dirac v2.0.0 files in Windows Media Player.

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