VC-1

A standards-based video codec, originally created and marketed by Microsoft as the Windows Media 9 Advanced codec, that was ratified by SMPTE in 2006, and is now included as one of three codecs on Blu-Ray discs. VC-1 was marketed as an alternative to H.264 but failed to gain traction, so Microsoft eventually moved to fragmented MP4 (using H.264 as the video codec) for its Smooth Streaming video ecosystem. Smooth Streaming may contain VC-1, WMA, H.264 and AAC compression formats. Microsoft published a Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) specification in 2010. It defined another usage of multiple encryption and DRM systems in a single file container. PIFF was registered by the MP4 registration authority in 2010 but some extensions used by this format (e.g. for WMA support) were not registered.