Helix (project)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the free and open-source software media project. See helix (disambiguation) for other meanings.
Helix is a project to produce software that can play audio and video media in various formats, aid in producing such media, and serve them over a network. It is intended as a largely free and open source digital media framework that runs on numerous operating systems and processors (including mobile phones) and was started by RealNetworks which has contributed much of the code.
Helix DNA Client is the multi-platform multi-format media playback engine. Helix Player is a media player that runs on Linux, Solaris, Symbian and FreeBSD and is built on top of Helix DNA Client. Helix Producer is an application that can aid in the production of media files, and Helix DNA Server can stream media files over a network.
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[edit] Licenses
The code is released in binary and source code form under various licenses, notably the proprietary RealNetworks Community Source License and the free and open source software RealNetworks Public Source License. Additionally, the Helix DNA Client and the Helix Player are licensed under the popular GNU General Public License (GPL) free and open source license.
Use of the RDT, the default proprietary Real data transport, and of the RealVideo and RealAudio codecs requires binary components distributed under the Helix DNA Technology Binary Research Use License.
[edit] Helix DNA Client
Helix DNA Client powers many digital media applications, including RealPlayer for Windows, Mac OS and Linux (since version 10), RealPlayer Mobile, and Helix Player. It is used on Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson mobile phones. According to https://helixcommunity.org, 125 million mobile phones with the Helix client have been shipped since 2006. It is also being used in embedded devices like the Internet Tablet OS from Nokia, which is found on the Nokia 770, N800 and N810 Internet Tablets. Cingular Video is also based on the framework. Other projects that use the Helix framework include RealNetwork's Rhapsody online music service, the Banshee and Amarok music players, and MediaReady 4000.
Another project that is taking advantage of the Helix DNA Client is the One Laptop Per Child project. A group of developers from the Open Source Lab are currently working on a media player API for the project, and will continue on using other Helix technologies to create applications for content creation and content collaboration.
Helix DNA client contains support for the following media formats:
- Audio formats: Vorbis, .au
- Video formats: Theora, AVI
- Description formats: SMIL, SDP
- Image formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG
- Protocols: RTSP, RTP, HTTP, Multicast, RDT
[edit] Helix DNA Server
The Helix DNA Server, first released on 22 January, 2003,[1] supports streaming RealVideo, RealAudio or MP3 to any device or application that supports the HTTP or RTSP streaming protocols.[2]
