Presently, there are more competing codecs than at any time before. The existing standards are still in use in many places, yet new codecs are vying for attention as the ideal answer to media content delivery. Often, these are presented as a simple comparison “A is better than B”, but frequently the situation is vastly more complex and requires more context.

We take a look at the latest candidates, provide an assessment of characteristics, and identify where they might fit in the various media ecosystems. We’ll also take a brief look into the future where we might discover even more codec efficiency.