Reference Formats
VP8
VP8 is a royalty-free video codec, not a container, that Google open-sourced after acquiring On2 Technologies, and it became the mandatory baseline codec for early WebRTC implementations.
Extension
.webm
Full name
VP8 (originally developed by On2 Technologies, released open source by Google)
Introduced
2008 (proprietary release by On2); 2010 (open-sourced by Google)
Vendor
On2 Technologies (original developer); Google (open-sourced it after acquiring On2)
What is inside the container
VP8 is delivered inside the WebM container, typically paired with Vorbis or Opus audio. Google released the bitstream specification and reference encoder (libvpx) under a royalty-free, BSD-style open-source license in May 2010, backed by an irrevocable patent promise; it now also falls under the Alliance for Open Media's broader patent cross-license alongside VP9 and AV1.
How to open it
For archives
VP8 is now largely superseded by VP9 and AV1 for general delivery purposes, but it still surfaces in WebRTC-derived assets (recorded video calls, webinar captures) given its mandatory role in early WebRTC interoperability. For archival purposes, transcoding legacy VP8 assets to VP9 or H.264 typically improves both compatibility and compression without any licensing complication, since VP8 itself carries no royalty to begin with.
VP8 began life as a proprietary codec from On2 Technologies, released commercially in September 2008. Google acquired On2 in a deal that closed in February 2010, and rather than keeping the codec proprietary, released the VP8 bitstream specification and reference codec (libvpx) as open source under a royalty-free, BSD-style license that May, launching it alongside the new WebM container project as a direct alternative to the licensing costs then attached to H.264.
VP8’s most consequential real-world role came through WebRTC: the IETF’s RFC 7742 designated VP8 as a mandatory-to-implement baseline codec for WebRTC interoperability, alongside H.264 Constrained Baseline, meaning any browser or application claiming WebRTC compliance had to support VP8 decoding. That requirement gave VP8 an outsized footprint in real-time video calling and conferencing tools for years, well beyond what its compression efficiency alone would have earned it against H.264.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| September 2008 | On2 Technologies releases VP8 commercially |
| February 2010 | Google’s acquisition of On2 closes |
| May 2010 | Google open-sources the VP8 bitstream and libvpx under a royalty-free, BSD-style license |
| RFC 7742 | IETF designates VP8 a mandatory-to-implement baseline codec for WebRTC, alongside H.264 Constrained Baseline |
For a DAM, VP8 today shows up less as a primary delivery format and more as a legacy artifact — recordings pulled from older WebRTC-based conferencing or webinar tools, or early WebM-era web video. It remains royalty-free and straightforward to transcode, and since Google folded its patent commitments into the broader Alliance for Open Media framework alongside VP9 and AV1, there’s no licensing reason to avoid touching VP8 assets; the practical reason to transcode them is simply that VP9 and AV1 now offer meaningfully better compression for the same royalty-free terms.
Frequently asked
Is VP8 a container format?
No, it's a video codec — the compression method for the picture data. VP8 is normally packaged inside the WebM container, typically with Vorbis or Opus audio.
Why do we have VP8 files from old video-conferencing recordings?
VP8 was designated a mandatory-to-implement baseline codec for WebRTC under IETF RFC 7742, so many early browser-based video calling and webinar tools recorded output using VP8 by default.
Is VP8 royalty-free like VP9 and AV1?
Yes — Google released the VP8 specification and reference encoder under a royalty-free, BSD-style open-source license in 2010, backed by an irrevocable patent promise, and it now also falls under the Alliance for Open Media's broader patent cross-license.
Should we transcode legacy VP8 assets to something else?
It's generally worth it for storage efficiency — VP9 and AV1 both compress meaningfully better than VP8 for the same royalty-free terms, so transcoding legacy VP8 archives to a newer codec improves compression without introducing any new licensing consideration.
Does VP8 still play in current browsers?
Yes — Chrome, Firefox, and Opera all still support native VP8 playback, a holdover from its WebRTC baseline-codec requirement, even though it's no longer the primary codec any of these browsers push for new content.
What's the relationship between VP8 and On2 Technologies?
On2 Technologies originally developed and commercially released VP8 in September 2008; Google acquired On2 in a deal that closed February 2010 and open-sourced VP8 that same year as part of launching the WebM project.
How do we convert VP8 files for use in a modern editing pipeline?
ffmpeg handles VP8 decode and encode via the libvpx library — a straightforward `ffmpeg -i input.webm output.mp4` command remuxes or transcodes it into a more broadly editable format like H.264-in-MP4.
Is VP8 still relevant to a DAM in 2026, or is it fully obsolete?
It's mostly a legacy format now — superseded by VP9 and AV1 for new content — but it still turns up in older WebRTC-derived recordings, so a DAM handling archived video calls or webinars needs to be able to identify and transcode it, even if it's no longer a target format for new ingest.
Sources
- Google's acquisition of On2 Technologies closed February 19, 2010, and VP8 was open-sourced that May. checked 2026-08-07 — Wikipedia — VP8
- VP8 is designated a mandatory-to-implement baseline codec for WebRTC. checked 2026-08-07 — IETF — RFC 7742
- WebM Project FAQ on VP8's royalty-free licensing terms. checked 2026-08-07 — WebM Project — FAQ