CES 2014 will kick off in a few short days in Las Vegas. It promises to be one of the biggest technology-centered events of the year. While it's very unlikely that any new products will be making their way to the stage at CES 2014, new innovations will absolutely be the key to the 2014 show. One site looking to shake things up in 2014 is YouTube, which plans to demonstrate some new video streaming technology.
According to a report from GigaOm, YouTube will be demonstrating 4K video at CES in Las Vegas next week. The Google-owned video service will be showing off its ultra high-definition streaming based on VP9, a new royalty-free codec that Google has been developing as an alternative to the H.265 video codec that is currently used as the basis for other 4K developments.
According to the report, Google made an attempt at royalty-free alternative commercial video formatting. The VP8 video codec, which the company released in 2010, was supposed to become the default format for plugin-free video streaming and real-time communications, but that idea didn't work out due to a lack of hardware support and intense opposition from some companies who had an interest in commercial video formats.
However, despite 2010's setbacks, Google seems like it has learned its lessons and is lining up a whole list of hardware partners to get VP9 development off the ground. Among those that will help the site showcase the tech at CES 2014 are ARM, Intel, Broadcom and Marvell as well as some consumer electronics big wigs like Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba.
What this means for the average YouTube consumer is that the new technology will come with a lower bandwidth requirement. According to IGN, YouTube's Francisco Varela claims the low-bandwidth, which is roughly half of H.265 or VP8, will help speed up video streams.
"By 2015, you'll be surprised every time you see that spinning wheel," he said. The first VP9 hardware should appear in the PC and mobile space initially. It will then spread to HDTV units appearing sometime in 2015, according to IGN.
