One-page reference of every major audio codec from G.711 (1972) to LC3 (2020): year, tribe (speech/music), standards body, licensing posture, and 2026 relevance.
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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 audio codec timeline runs from G.711 to LC3 with year, speech or music tribe, standards body, licensing and 2026 relevance for each codec. Volume 4 covers these audio codecs in depth, from PCM, sampling and bit depth to Opus, AAC and speech codecs and how each fits a video product. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
Inheriting legacy audio codecs and deciding which to keep in 2026?
List the codecs in your stack, and we will mark which to keep, replace or drop and plan a migration. 250+ video products shipped since 2005.
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