Video Codec History
Chronological Development Timeline
| Year | Format | Algorithm | Publisher | Main Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | H.120 | DPCM | CCITT | First digital video coding standard |
| 1988 | H.261 | DCT | CCITT | Foundation for modern codecs; ISDN |
| 1991 | Softvideo 1.0 | RLE | TMMI | First software-only video on market |
| 1992 | MJPEG | DCT | JPEG | Individual frame compression |
| 1992 | Softvideo 2.0 | RLE/MIDI | TMMI | First to sync digital audio/video for CD/ROM |
| 1993 | MPEG-1 P2 | DCT | ISO/IEC | Video CD (VCD) |
| 1993 | VDK 1.0 | Fractal | TMMI | Early full PIFS fractal development |
| 1994 | VDK 2.0 | Fractal | ISI/TMMI | 24-bit RGB/YUV 4:4:4 processing |
| 1995 | MPEG-2 | DCT | ISO/IEC/ITU | DVD and digital TV |
| 1996 | H.263 | DCT | ITU-T | Mobile (3GP) and early Flash |
| 1999 | MPEG-4 P2 | DCT | ISO/IEC | DivX, Xvid, early web video |
| 2001 | MJ2 | DWT | JPEG | Digital Cinema |
| 2003 | H.264/AVC | DCT | ISO/IEC/ITU | YouTube, Netflix, Blu-ray |
| 2006 | VC-1 | DCT | SMPTE | Early Blu-ray discs |
| 2007 | ProRes | DCT | Apple | High-bitrate production/editing |
| 2013 | VDK3 | Fractal | TMMI | High-resolution fractal video codec |
| 2013 | H.265/HEVC | DCT | ISO/IEC/ITU | 4K, HDR, mobile |
| 2013 | VP9 | DCT | Royalty-free 4K YouTube | |
| 2018 | AV1 | DCT | AOMedia | Modern web streaming |
| 2020 | H.266/VVC | DCT | JVET | 8K and VR |
| 2026 | VDK 3.1 | Fractal | TMMI/SBT | Final legacy hardening; AMD64/8K scaling |
| 2026 | FractalPix | Fractal | SBT | Next-gen HDR-native codec |
* Data compiled from historical development logs, reflecting key milestones in both standardized DCT-based broadcasting and TMM's proprietary fractal-based video evolution.