One page: the four questions in order (where it plays, real-time or not, channels, licensing), the decision tree, the use-case shortcuts, and the licensing-in-one-line summary — the procedure this article describes, condensed to a worksheet.
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The book · Volume 4 of 7
Audio for Video: A Complete Guide to Sound in Video Products: From PCM and Codecs to Loudness, Accessibility, and Real-Time Voice Processing
This 2026 audio codec decision worksheet asks four questions in order: where it plays, real-time or not, channels and licensing, then gives use-case shortcuts. Volume 4 covers the material behind each answer in depth: Opus, AAC and speech codecs, channel layouts, loudness and real-time voice processing. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
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