A leaked presentation shows that Google is working on royalty-free media formats for HDR video and 3D audio, in an effort internally known as Project Caviar
Janko Roettgers / Protocol :
Context & Ripple Effects
Project Caviar is the next step in a decade-long Google playbook: after co-founding the Alliance for Open Media to strip licensing fees out of video codecs, it is now applying the same royalty-free model upstream to HDR video and spatial audio. The audio side has been building quietly — the acquisition of 3D audio startup Dysonics fed Google's hardware audio team, and the open-source Resonance Audio SDK gave developers a cross-platform spatial audio tool years before this leak.
First-order effects
- Content owners and streamers gain a no-fee alternative path for HDR and immersive audio delivery, with YouTube positioned as the likely showcase given Google's control of both format and distribution.
Second-order effects
- Licensed-format vendors face the same pricing squeeze the Alliance for Open Media created in video codecs: if Google ships royalty-free HDR and 3D audio at scale, device makers have leverage to resist per-device royalties.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, media format economics shift from licensing revenue to platform control — whoever distributes the format (and the app that plays it) captures the value, a structural repeat of the AV1 playbook extended into premium picture and sound.
The trend: Major platforms are replacing licensed media formats with royalty-free standards they steward, extending the open-codec playbook from video compression into HDR imaging and spatial audio.