WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) today announced that Tencent, a leading provider of Internet value added services in China, has joined at the Board level, the first tier of the organization. As a member of the Alliance, Tencent will collaborate with AOMedia members, the leading internet and media technology companies, to advance open standards for media compression and delivery over the web.

As an AOMedia member, Tencent joins the ranks of fellow board-level members Amazon, ARM, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, NVIDIA, and Samsung Electronics.

“Tencent is thrilled to join AOMedia 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."

The availability of AV1, AOMedia’s newest initiative, as an open-source codec is a significant milestone in the ability to deliver a next-generation video format that is interoperable, open, optimized for internet delivery, and scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth. AV1 enables more screens to display the vivid images, deeper colors, brighter highlights, darker shadows, and other enhanced UHD imaging features that consumers and businesses have come to expect – all while using less data.

"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," said Matt Frost, AOMedia Vice President of Communications and Membership, and Director at Google. "We look forward to collaborating with Tencent in our goal to increase openness and interoperability of internet video."

Designed at the outset for hardware optimization, the AV1 specification, reference code, and bindings are available for toolmakers and developers to download here to begin designing AV1 into products. Specifically, the release of AV1 includes:

Bitstream specification to enable the next generation of silicon

Unoptimized, experimental software decoder and encoder to create and consume the bitstream

Reference streams for product validation

Binding specifications to allow content creation and streaming tools for user-generated and commercial video

About Tencent

Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Our communications and social platforms, Weixin and QQ, connect users with each other and with digital content and services, both online and offline, making their lives more convenient. Our targeted advertising platform helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our FinTech and business services support our partners’ business growth and assist their digital upgrade. Tencent invests heavily in talent and technological innovation, actively promoting the development of the Internet industry. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.HK) was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2004.

About the Alliance for Open Media

Launched in 2015, the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) was formed to define and develop media technologies to address marketplace demand for an open standard for video compression and delivery over the web. Board-level, Founding Members include Amazon, Apple, Arm, Cisco, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, NVIDIA, and Samsung Electronics. AOMedia’s open-source, royalty-free, video codec AV1 is a significant milestone in the ability to deliver a next-generation video format that is interoperable, open, optimized for internet delivery and scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth. Visit www.aomedia.org or follow AOMedia on Twitter at @a4omedia.