FAQ
Product information
- Which Adobe products support HD video?
- Adobe products that support HD video include Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 Production Premium and Flash® Media Server 3.5 software, Adobe Flash Player 9 software and later, the Adobe AIR® 1.0 runtime and later, and Adobe Flash Lite® 3.1 software.
- What is H.264?
- H.264 is the next-generation video compression technology in the MPEG-4 standard, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 (ISO/IEC 14496-10). H.264 delivers excellent video quality across the entire bandwidth spectrum — from 3G (mobile phones) to HD (broadcast) and everything in between. H.264 is mandatory for the Blu-ray specification (the format for high-definition DVDs) and ratified in the latest versions of the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasters) and 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards. Numerous broadcast, cable, videoconferencing, and consumer electronics companies consider H.264 the video codec of choice for their new products and services, including Apple, Canon, Sony, Nokia, SanDisk, Palm, Blackberry, and even Microsoft.
- What is High Efficiency-AAC (HE-AAC)?
- AAC is a standard audio format defined in the MPEG-4 video standard; it is also the default audio format of Apple iPod/iPhone and the standard audio format of Sony PlayStation 3. Flash Player 9 and later and AIR 1.0 and later support HE-AAC v2, which is an extension of AAC that uses spectral band replication (SBR) and parametric stereo (PS) techniques to increase coding efficiency at low bit rates.
- Which audio and video standards does Flash Player implement?
- Flash Player 9 and later support subsets of the MPEG-4 standards defined by ISO/IEC 14496-12, ISO/IEC 14496-10, ISO/IEC 14496-3, and the 3GPP timed text format standard. Specifically, Flash Player supports the following standards:
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ISO/IEC 14496-3 [Audio AAC] AAC Main; AAC LC; SBR ISO/IEC 14496-10 [Video AVC] Base (BP); Main (MP); High (HiP) — support for all levels ISO/IEC 14496-12 [Container] 1 audio track; 1 video track 3GPP TS 26.245 [Timed text] - Why was H.264/HE-AAC included in Flash Player 9?
- Adobe provides one of the leading online digital media delivery platforms, and the addition of H.264 extends the Adobe Flash Platform. Customers can leverage their existing video and audio to deliver content to the web and other devices — up to HD quality — leveraging the user experience of Flash Player and their current infrastructure and encoding investments.
- Where else is H.264 used?
- With the rapid adoption of Flash Player 9, the ability to play back H.264 encoded video is available on over 98% of Internet-connected PCs. H.264 also enjoys broad distribution via QuickTime from Apple, which is included in iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and QuickTime Player on Mac and Windows®. H.264 is also integrated with everything from mobile phones (Nokia, SonyEricsson) to HD-TV and digital radio. A wide range of interoperating products supports this standard. Visit the MPEG Industry Forum website for updated news about H.264.
- Does Flash Player support HD?
- Yes, Flash Player supports 720p and 1080p content encoded with either On2 VP6 or H.264. View the system requirements.
- How does H.264 compare with the other video formats supported by Flash Player?
- Flash Player and Flash Lite support the Sorenson Spark video codec (based on H.263) and On2 VP6. H.263 is the predecessor of H.264 and was designed for teleconferencing applications, at 64k rates. Factors to be considered when choosing a format include the complexity of the content, desired reach, ability to archive, and licensing.
- Does H.264 replace the On2 VP6 codec?
- No, maintaining backwards compatibility for existing content is one of the core values of Flash Player and Flash Lite. Flash Player 9 and Flash Player 10 continue to support the On2 VP6 video codec, in addition to the Sorenson Spark codec introduced in Flash Player 6.
- Does the H.264 implementation in Flash Player support alpha channels?
- No. The current implementation does not support alpha channels using H.264.
- Will I be able to multiplex H.264 video and HE-AAC audio into the current FLV container format?
- Adobe encourages customers to use the open F4V file format. This format is designed to work with the features of those codecs.
- Will I be able to put On2 VP6 streams into the open F4V file format?
- Flash Player 10 does not play back On2 VP6–encoded video in the file format.
- Can I play back the same H.264 video files that I use on my iPod?
- Yes, Flash Player can play back any H.264/HE-AAC files that play on the iPod provided they are not protected by FairPlay digital rights management.
- Does Flash Player support non-FLV files?
- Yes, Flash Player 9 and later support files derived from the standard MPEG-4 container format such as MP4, M4A, MOV, MP4V, 3GP, and 3G2 if they contain H.264 video and/or HE-AAC encoded audio. Adobe created the F4V format, based on the format specified by ISO/IEC 14496-12: ISO base media file format, for H.264 encoded content. Learn more about this open file format and download the FLV/F4V format specification.
- What are the minimum system requirements for viewing H.264-based content in Flash Player?
- The minimum system requirements for viewing H.264-based content are similar to those of other media players supporting H.264 in the market today.
- Does Adobe have a way to protect H.264 content?
- Yes, with Flash Media Server 3.5, Adobe provides the software and technology that enable customers to deliver more secure content over multimedia streaming protocols: Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP unencrypted) or Real Time Messaging Protocol Encrypted (RTMPE). To protect content, Adobe recommends that customers using Flash Media Server utilize RTMPE or RTMPTE (tunneled version) combined with SWF file verification to provide maximum content protection and also disable RTMP access. In addition, Adobe Flash Media Rights Management Server software helps protect and control media content downloaded in FLV (Spark or VP6 codec) or MPEG-4 (H.264 codec) format and played back on local desktops using the Adobe AIR® runtime.
- What type of license for use of H.264 technology is provided when I buy Adobe products?
- The end-user license for Flash Player allows users to play back H.264 content for their own noncommercial use. Commercial use of Flash Player to decode H.264 video may require a separate license. Licensing terms for H.264 are available on the MPEG LA website (H.264) and the Via Licensing website (HE-AAC).
- Can I use Adobe Creative Suite 4 software to generate H.264 video and HE-AAC audio files? Which products support this capability?
- Creative Suite 4 production tools help ensure maximum compatibility with Flash Player H.264 video and HE-AAC support. Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3 and CS4 and After Effects® CS3 and CS4 software have the ability to encode video using H.264.
- What are the minimum system requirements for viewing H.264-based content in Flash Player?
- See the Flash Player system requirements.
- Does Adobe Flash Media Server support H.264 content?
- Yes, Flash Media Server 3.5 supports streaming of H.264 and HE-AAC content — both live and on demand. (See the Flash Media Server home page for more details.)
