Sorenson Media
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Video encoding |
| Founded | December 1995 |
| Founder | James Lee Sorenson |
| Defunct | October 2018 |
| Fate | Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; assets acquired by Nielsen Holdings in 2019 |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, California , United States |
Key people | Patrick Nola (CEO) |
| Products | Sorenson Video codec, Sorenson Squeeze, VP-100 videophone device |
Sorenson Media was a U.S.-based software firm that specialized in video encoding solutions. Established in December 1995 under the name Sorenson Vision, the company developed its technology through licensing and acquisition from Utah State University. Its proprietary codec was introduced at the MacWorld Expo in January 1997.
The company's flagship offering, the Sorenson Video codec, was licensed by Apple Inc. for integration into QuickTime 3.0. Sorenson’s encoding technology supported Apple's movie trailer site and video content for major studios such as Disney, Lucasfilm, MGM, and Paramount. Additionally, it was used for iTunes music videos until Apple shifted to adopting the H.264 format.
Under the leadership of founder James Lee Sorenson and later CEO Patrick Nola, Sorenson Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2018. Subsequently, Nielsen Holdings purchased the company’s assets in February 2019 for $11.25 million, incorporating them into their addressable advertising division.
Technical service for the deaf and Sorenson Communications
In 2003, Sorenson introduced the VP-100, a standalone videotelephony device tailored for individuals with hearing impairments. Designed to connect with standard television sets and reduce expenses, it featured a remote control and a proprietary video compression codec optimized specifically for Video Relay Service (VRS). This device found significant adoption within educational settings and the deaf community.
Following the FCC’s authorization of VRS in 2002 and the expansion of high-speed Internet access, videophone services experienced rapid growth across the United States.
In May 2005, Sorenson Media separated its operations by creating Sorenson Communications, which concentrated on products serving deaf and hard-of-hearing users. Meanwhile, Sorenson Media maintained its focus on video compression software development. In April 2022, Ariel Alternatives, a private equity firm, acquired a majority 52.5% stake in Sorenson Communications, valuing the company at $1.3 billion.
Encoding technologies
The term Sorenson codec encompasses three proprietary video codecs:
Sorenson Video
Two iterations of Sorenson Video were released, both identified by the SVQ1 FourCC. The initial version launched alongside QuickTime 3 on March 30, 1998. The second version arrived with QuickTime 4 on March 11, 1999; it maintained backward compatibility while introducing minor improvements to the encoder. Both versions utilize YCbCr 4:1:0 chroma subsampling, which resulted in some color bleeding issues that were later addressed in subsequent releases. Support for decoding SVQ1 has been available in FFmpeg since 2002, with encoding capabilities added in 2004.
Version two gained widespread recognition through its use in the teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace released in 1999. The codec’s detailed specifications remain proprietary, with playback historically relying on Apple's QuickTime or MPlayer employing extracted DLLs.
Sorenson Video 3
An incompatible successor identified by the SVQ3 FourCC, Sorenson Video 3 was introduced with QuickTime version 5.0.2 on July 1, 2001 and was accessible only via QuickTime. Apple later designated Sorenson Video 3 as a "legacy encoder" as it shifted focus toward other compression standards.
An FFmpeg developer reverse engineered SVQ3 and determined it to be a variation of H.264. FFmpeg incorporated decoding support for both SVQ3 and SVQ1 starting with release version 0.4.7 in 2003.
Sorenson Video 3 is included as part of the Sorenson Squeeze package.
Sorenson Spark
Sorenson Spark represents a variant of H.263 utilized within Flash Video and Adobe Flash formats. Support for this codec is provided by FFmpeg through the FLV1 FourCC code as well as Adobe frame identifiers 0x21, 0x22, and 0x23.
With Apple's transition toward MPEG-4 standards and away from proprietary codecs, Sorenson Media licensed Sorenson Spark (also known as Sorenson H.263) to Macromedia. This codec was integrated into Macromedia Flash MX version 6, released in March 2002, becoming the mandated video compression standard for Flash Player versions 6 and 7.
In pursuit of enhanced video fidelity, Macromedia selected VP6 as the primary codec beginning with Flash Player 8 in September 2005. Despite this shift, Sorenson Spark continued to be supported in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional (2008), alongside both H.264 and VP6 codecs. Adobe engineer Tinic Uro has noted that Sorenson Spark is a partial implementation of H.263, distinguished primarily by differences in header formatting and coefficient value ranges.
Support for encoding and decoding Sorenson H.263 was introduced into FFmpeg in 2003.
External links
- Sorenson Video Codec, Version 3 format overview by the Library of Congress