Cisco is working on license-free open source codec as an alternative to h.265

Cisco is developing an alternative to h.265. The company wants to offer this codec license-free. At the moment the project is called Thor and Cisco has released the source code.

Thor’s code can be found on GitHub, while extensive documentation is also available. Cisco says it plans to develop the codec for videos in the coming months into an alternative to the h.265 codec currently in vogue. The intention is that it will be a high-quality codec that can be used ‘anywhere’. Presumably, Cisco is referring to many devices, such as within browsers, on smartphones and tablets and on TVs.

The alternative is necessary, according to the company, because the license costs for h.265 would be up to sixteen times higher than that for h.264. In addition, it is necessary to make agreements with many companies about licenses for the use of the codec.

Cisco invites other companies to join the development of Thor. It is not yet known whether there are other companies and, if so, which companies are participating. Thor is named after the Norse god of thunder.