Microsoft adds VP9 video codec support to Edge

Microsoft has announced that WebM/VP9 support is now in development for Microsoft Edge. The open source codec VP9 is the successor to VP8 and is being developed by Google. VP9 should become a replacement for h264, partly because it is completely open source and royalty free.

Microsoft writes this on its developer blog. The first implementation of VP9 in the Edge browser will be available soon via a Windows Insider Preview build. Initially, the decoding will be done by software. Depending on the hardware, hardware decoding will be added at a later stage. Partly for this reason, VP9 will initially be housed behind an experimental flag in Edge, while the company continues to work on broader hardware support. Users can view their experimental flag settings via ‘about:flags’ in the browser, where a setting becomes available to enable or disable VP9 support.

It is not surprising that Microsoft is going to build in support for the codec of one of its biggest rivals. Recently, the company, along with other companies and institutions, started an initiative called Alliance for Open Media. Google also falls under the group. The aim of this collaboration is to develop media formats and codecs for the public domain. It is not yet clear whether this means that the further development of VP9 will be part of the alliance’s roadmap. The alliance will release that roadmap later this year.

Other formats Microsoft is working on include OGG, Opus, and Vorbis. Via the Microsoft Edge Platform Status site you can keep track of which developments are taking place and which are not.

Microsoft Edge Platform Status of VP9 codec