On2 has, from the start, highlighted its committment to providing the most optimal video solutions possible. The company said that the use of codecs that have been optimized for the NEON extensions will enable the consumer to have an improved battery life and better visual quality.

IQ Online caught up with Eero Kaikkonen, Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer at On2 Technologies to get the low down on video technology, consumer expectations and how the ARM platform fits into the frame.

What are the key features consumers look for in consuming and creating video as technology moves forward?

They want to create, store and share their content easily, at the best quality possible. When consuming content, they again care most about ease of use and quality, plus bandwidth requirements and costs.

Mobile phones are rapidly joining camcorders and digital cameras as video creation tools. In the mobile industry, resolution has been a key driver historically, but video quality is starting to play a more important role.  And, consumers are starting to recognize that higher quality and resolution directly affect their storage needs. Quality video compression is crucial to addressing these emerging consumer needs, and is one of On2’s key focus areas.

Sharing video, or storing it externally, is another key element in the trend toward increased usage of mobile devices. Consumers want to seamlessly record, retrieve and share their content.  The industry works toward this, where possible, by allowing different consumer devices -- digital cameras and mobile phones, set top boxes, TVs and PCs -- to all communicate with each other.

The online commercial video experience is also improving. While some issues remain, such as the need for plug-ins and additional applications, and the issue of Digital Rights Management, the Flash ecosystem has brought more interoperability into the online space.

As the mobile and internet industries mature, their evolutionary paths are converging rapidly. The On2-Hantro merger reflects this convergence.  While On2 has been focusing on delivering a positive online video experience for over fifteen years, Hantro has been focusing on the same issues in the mobile space. The combined company is well positioned to enable the convergence of online and mobile based video.

How has the acquisition of Hantro helped On2 make an immediate impact on the mobile device market, especially in the performance of codecs running on the ARM architecture?

In the short term, the goal is to enable the Flash ecosystem to expand from the PC space to the mobile space. While the PC environment is based on downloadable players, in the mobile world the players and codecs must be optimized for myriad platforms and operating systems. By creating those optimizations, On2 has delivered real value to its customers.

The primary codec in the Flash ecosystem is VP6, which was developed by On2. In order to improve the overall video experience, On2 has optimized this codec for the different hardware platforms used in mobile phones, where the most important and widely used MCUs are ARM9 and ARM11, and in the future, ARM Neon. Our customers can now choose between these platforms and various resolution requirements.

What role do you see mobile devices playing in video consumption over the next couple of years?

Today, there are already more than one billion video enabled mobile phones in use globally. We are nearing the point where mobile phones become the largest single platform for consuming video. In order to successfully deliver content to a large consumer base, you have to take into account the mobile phone market. This is especially true in developing countries, where mobile phones are the only multimedia device available. Additionally, wireless operators have to develop business models which will enable people to consume video content on their devices.

With billions of ARM processors out in the mobile device market, how does On2 plan to leverage the maximum video performance on current and future ARM processors?

We have optimized all of the most used video formats, vp6, h.263, h.264, and vc-1, for different ARM processor cores, and where resolution vs. quality or power consumption demands them, we also have hardware accelerated video codecs, designed to closely integrate into ARM processor busses.

Consumers are demanding the ability to create, scale and playback content without losing quality, without sacrificing power consumption. How is On2 rising to that challenge?

We have already developed two of the leading video formats, including VP6, the primary codec in Flash Video, and VP7, used by Skype, among others, which delivers the highest quality video at low data rates.  Our codecs are designed to optimize video quality while minimizing power consumption, particularly in the case of hardware encoders, and with the acquisition of Hantro, we have a 15-year history of developing low power mobile applications

On2 has managed to optimize codecs using the SIMD instructions in ARM11 processors. What advantages will consumers get on mobile devices via this approach?

ARM11 SIMD instructions provide 10-15% reduction in CPU load. For consumers, this means either a longer battery life, or higher quality video.

Earlier this year On2 confirmed that it is using ARM NEON technology to optimize performance of a number of video codecs. What advantages will we see from this?

ARM Neon will allow us to significantly reduce the CPU load. We are targeting up to a 50% reduction in needed CPU cycles, as compared to ARM11.

What attracted On2 to the ARM NEON platform?

ARM has successfully licensed the NEON technology to key semiconductor vendors, and the first devices utilizing the technology will be available later this year. We see this as a great opportunity to be the first company offering highly optimized video codecs on the NEON platform.

Via the Neon platform and On2's video codecs what can we expect to see via video content through the Web?

We can expect to see high resolution, high quality video playback and recording on mobile devices in both standards-based and Flash video formats.

How did On2 utilize ARM RealView Development Suite 3.1 Professional tools in its work on codecs for ARM NEON before development boards were available?

We have been using the Vectorizing compiler within the standard workflow that ARM presents.

The Profiler gives us the ability to quickly simulate the ARM environment for optimization and testing purposes.  That functionality is highly beneficial when testing ARM code, as it enables fast regression testing with large amounts of data.  These benefits multiply as we run regression tests for several instructions sets (v4,v5,v6,v7) and at various compilation time configurations.

The same applies to performance simulation, as even high resolution video streams can be encoded and decoded quickly, allowing the design engineer to see the results of modifications immediately. This means that the optimization, simulation and analysis cycle can be repeated rapidly.

The graphical user interface supports optimizations in many ways. It is easy to see how C code and the assembler relate.

The Profiler provides the tools for optimizations and fast simulation, but as the Profiler is not a cycle accurate simulation model, performance needs to be verified in hardware, or in SocDesigner. SocDesigner is a highly configurable environment and makes it possible to analyze how different system-related parameters affect codec performance.

We are now also measuring performance metrics, such as CPU load and cache misses, in hardware (ARM11@N800 and Cortex A8@OMAP3430) and software provided by ARM. As we verify Profiler results in hardware, we can spot inconsistencies caused by the fact that Profiler is not cycle accurate, and can simulate software in SocDesigner to see where SocDesigner and Profiler differ. Utilizing these tools, we can properly optimize our codecs to get the best possible result in real hardware.

How will your use of simulation models in this arena benefit OEM and chip vendors looking to incorporate ARM NEON?

The simulation models allow us to produce the most highly optimized video codecs.

How do you envisage further developing your relationship with ARM and its various platforms?

We are exploring ways to enhance our cooperation with ARM even further on a technical and marketing level, and will likely explore options for multicore processor platforms in the future.

How can On2 make HD video possible in resource constrained and low bandwidth environments?

On2’s multiformat hardware video accelerators are already enabling up to 1080p video coding in resource constrained environments.

Will 2008 be the year that HD video comes into its own?

HD content is already widely available in the online space through providers such as Move Networks, who utilize our VP7 codec, and in 2008, the first portable devices with 720p HD resolution will come to market.  But we’ll have to wait until roughly 2010 before portable devices will start supporting full 1080p HD resolution for both playback and encoding.