1964: AT&T Picturephone at New York World's Fair
1969: Picturephone issue of Bell Laboratories Record
1969: First ARPANET message
1973: Network Voice Protocol (NVP)
1974: Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program
4ESS (digital) telephone Electronic Switching System
1982: ARPANET transition to TCP/IP Internet
1982: ITU-T (formerly, CCITT) Recommendation H.120: "Codecs for videoconferencing using primary digital group transmission"
1986: PictureTel C-2000 Switched-56 system
1988: ITU-T (formerly, CCITT) Recommendation G.722: "7 kHz audio-coding within 64 kbit/s"
ITU-T (formerly, CCITT) Recommendation H.221: "Frame structure for a 64 to 1920 kbit/s channel in audiovisual teleservices"
ITU-T Recommendation H.261: "Video codec for audiovisual services at p x 64 kbit/s"
ITU-T Recommendation H.320: "Narrow-band visual telephone systems and terminal equipment"
Communications of the ACM Special issue on digital multimedia systems
Intel/PictureTel/IBM DVI alliance: "Picturetel and the International Business Machines Corporation were working with the Intel Corporation at its Princeton, N.J., laboratory to develop a multimedia chip that will make desktop video-conferencing cost effective."
Andy Grove "The Second Decade: Computer Supported Collaboration"
PictureTel revenue $78M, net income $6.0M
Polycom SoundStation
MBone video for IETF meetings
CU-SeeMe first operational.
ITU-T Recommendation G.728: "Coding of speech at 16 kbit/s using low-delay code excited linear prediction"
Henning Schulzrinne A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications (RTP initial draft)
PictureTel revenue $141M, net income $10.7M
ITU-T Recommendation H.243: "Procedures for establishing communication between three or more audiovisual terminals using digital channels up to 2 Mbit/s"
ITU-T Recommendation H.331: "Broadcasting type audiovisual multipoint systems and terminal equipment"
VideoServer OEM MCU
C-Cube CLM4200 H.261 codec
PictureTel revenue $176M, net income $8.4M
IIT Video Communications Processor (VCP)
VideoServer Continuous Presence
Vivo 320 (H.320 on Pentium)
PictureTel revenue $347M, net income $20M
ITU-T Recommendation G.723.1: "Dual rate speech coder for multimedia communications transmitting at 5.3 and 6.3 kbit/s"
ITU-T Recommendation G.729: "Coding of speech at 8 kbit/s using conjugate-structure algebraic-code-excited linear prediction (CS-ACELP)"
ITU-T Recommendation T.120: "Data protocols for multimedia conferencing"
DataBeam MCAT et al
ITU-T Recommendation H.263: "Video coding for low bit rate communication"
ITU-T Recommendation H.324: "Terminal for low bit rate Multimedia Communication"
ITU-T Recommendation H.323: "Visual telephone systems and equipment for local area networks which provide a non-guaranteed quality of service"
PictureTel invests in Vivo
ViaVideo founded
VivoActive (video streaming on Pentium)
PictureTel revenue $490M, net income $32M
Intel Pentium MMX (MultiMedia eXtensions)
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), based on 1996 Session Invitation Protocol and Simple Conference Invitation Protocol
PictureTel acquires Multilink (later became part of Avaya)
Microsoft NetMeeting 2 with H.323
VTEL acquires Compression Labs
Philips TriMedia processor
IETF Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP)
PictureTel revenue $466M, net loss $(32M)
ISO/IEC standard MPEG-4 introduced
Schulzrinne et al
Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)
ITU-T Recommendation H.332: "H.323 extended for loosely coupled conferences"
RealNetworks acquires Vivo
Polycom acquires ViaVideo & introduces ViewStation
PictureTel acquires Starlight
White Pine MeetingPoint "soft" H.323 MCU
PictureTel revenue $406M, net loss $(56M)
Polycom video systems revenue $56.1M
PictureTel revenue $323M, net loss $(85M)
Polycom video systems revenue $126M
ITU-T Recommendation H.248: "Gateway control protocol" / IETF Megaco Protocol
Accord licenses Ezenia! patents ($6.5M)
PictureTel divests Starlight
Polycom acquires Accord Networks
PictureTel revenue $245M, net loss $(107M)
Polycom video systems revenue $215M
Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 introduced in Pentium 4
Motion Media H.324 ruggedized systems used in "by videophone" news coverage from Afghanistan
Polycom acquires PictureTel
PictureTel revenue $???M, net loss $(???M)
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $???M
H.263 included in Macromedia Flash MX
TANDBERG purchases Ezenia! patents
Forgent divests VTEL
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $???M
ITU-T Recommendation H.264: "Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services"
Texas Instruments TMS320DM642 processor
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $???M
Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 introduced in Pentium 4
Codian MCU 4200
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $420M
ITU-T Recommendation H.239: "Role management and additional media channels for H.300-series terminals"
Polycom Siren contributed to become ITU-T G.722.1 "Low-complexity coding at 24 and 32 kbit/s for hands-free operation in systems with low frame loss"
LifeSize Room
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $423M
Cisco TelePresence Meeting
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $469M
Tandberg revenue $420M
BT: "Will 2007 be the year of video conferencing?"
TANDBERG acquires Codian
Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 4 introduced in Penryn
Polycom combined video and network systems revenue $586M. See Wainhouse February 7, 2008 Dollars & $ense
Tandberg revenue $631M
Copyright © 2008 Charles H. Sauer. All rights reserved.
