MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC-1 Codecs Comparison Used in IPTV Video Streaming Technology

Thanks to the permanent evolution of codecs for video and to the coding algorithms, every time with better performance, the television has found a new way of transmission across Internet. Taking into account these evolutions, the performance of the most commercial codecs based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (RealNetworks, Apple) and VC-1 (Microsoft) standards is analyzed in this article. These codecs are the solutions nowadays for the diffusion of the television through IP network using video streaming technology. The codecs analysis is based on the evaluation of the main parameters that this technology requires. Also, the video streaming technology and its scheme is described.