AOMedia working on Open Audio Codec (OAC)

The Alliance For Open Media (AOMedia), already known for developing the AV1 open video codec and the AV1 Image File Format (AVIF), is now focusing its efforts on developing the Open Audio Codec (OAC).

The main goal of OAC is to provide a next-generation alternative to the Opus codec, with improved performance and functionality. Further technical details and development roadmap have not yet been disclosed.

Context and importance of open source audio codecs

Open source audio codecs play a crucial role in the multimedia ecosystem, offering royalty-free alternatives to proprietary codecs. This fosters innovation, interoperability, and reduces costs for developers and users. Opus, for example, is widely used in streaming, video conferencing, and voice communication applications due to its high quality and low latency. A successor like OAC could further improve these aspects and open up new possibilities for digital audio.