MainConcept
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | video/audio encoding, decoding, transcoding, software |
| Founded | Aachen, Germany, 1993 |
| Founder | Markus Mönig, Thomas Zabel |
| Headquarters | San Diego, USA, Aachen , Germany |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Codecs, software development kits, applications, plugins |
Number of employees | ~ 100 employees worldwide |
| Website | www |
 | This biographical article is written like a résumé. (October 2025) |
MainConcept is a German software company. Since 1993, they have provided video and audio codecs that fuel creativity and business globally for professional video production, multimedia, broadcast, digital signage, gaming, medical and security industries. The company's software development kits, applications and plugins are used across industry verticals to meet an ever-expanding list of use cases. MainConcept's codec engineers are some of the most experienced in the industry, and are used by organizations such as Adobe, AVID, Autodesk, Corel, Dalet, Grass Valley, MAGIX, MOG, Nikon, Sony and Wowza.
History
[edit]MainConcept was founded in 1993 in Aachen, Germany, with an early focus on software codec development and the ambition to support evolving video and audio compression standards.
MainConcept began shipping commercial codec products soon thereafter, including its first MPEG-1/2 codec. In 2004 it launched its own AVC/H.264 codec which is still in use today, followed in 2013 by HEVC/H.265 and in 2021 with VVC/H.266. In all, the company maintains a sizeable codec library covering implementations across numerous standards.
Starting in 2007, MainConcept has been owned by a succession of companies, starting with DivX, Inc.[1] In 2010, DivX was acquired by Sonic Solutions[2] and in 2011, Rovi Corporation acquired Sonic Solutions[3], bringing MainConcept under Rovi’s corporate umbrella. In 2014, Rovi divested the DivX and MainConcept businesses, and in 2015 NeuLion acquired DivX (including the MainConcept business).[4] In 2018, Endeavor Group Holdings acquired NeuLion and MainConcept, rebranding NeuLion as Endeavor Streaming[5], with MainConcept as a subsidiary. In October 2025, MainConcept announced that it had completed a management buyout, taking the company private.
Under the various levels of ownership, MainConcept continued to develop its codec and software development kit offerings, mostly operating separately from their parent.
In recent years,[vague] MainConcept has shifted its focus toward streaming, live and cloud encoding, and video quality measurement tools. The company maintains offices in Germany, the United States, and Japan, with a worldwide staff. As of the latest update, MainConcept continues to license codec technologies and deliver software development kits across broadcast, media, and OTT markets. Its codec implementations have been assessed in independent rankings, frequently coming out on top in competitive comparisons.[citation needed]
Core products
[edit]Software development kits
[edit]| AVC/H.264 | Web Assembly HEVC Decoder | OTT Content Creation |
| HEVC/H.265 | AV1 | SCTE-35 |
| VVC/H.266 | JPEG 2000 | MXF |
| JPEG XS | Motion JPEG | Network Streaming |
| LCEVC | VC-1 | Transcoding |
| Multiview HEVC | Audio SDK | Converter & Scaler |
| MPEG 1/2 | AAC | HDR |
| Decoder for Apple ProRes | Dolby Digital Plus | GStreamer |
Applications and plugins
[edit]| Live Encoder | Plugin for DaVinci Resolve Studio | |
| FFmpeg plugins | ||
| Dolby Digital Plus Pro | Hybrid HEVC Encoder | HEVC Decoder |
| VVC Encoder | AVC Broadcast Encoder | AVC Decoder |
| MPEG-H Encoder | MPEG-2 TS Broadcast Delivery | Adobe AAC Encoder |
| xHE-AAC Encoder | MPEG-2 Production Format Encoder |
Notable customers and partners
[edit]| Adobe | Avid | Autodesk | Dalet | AMD |
| Editshare | Grass Valley | Pebble | DeltaTre | Intel |
| MAGIX | Wowza | Telestream | Ross Video | Nvidia |
| Corel | Techex | Filmworkz | BroadStream | Qualcomm |
| Matrox | Amagi | Evertz | V-Nova | Samsung |
| Dataton | Sony | Nikon | Playbox Neo | Zixi |
| Colorfront | Veset | Nuon | Panasonic | Blackmagic Design |
See also
[edit]- High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)
References
[edit]- ^ "DivX buys video technologies provider MainConcept for $22 mln". Reuters. November 14, 2007.
- ^ "Sonic Solutions to Acquire DivX". Forbes. June 2, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
- ^ "Rovi To Buy Sonic Solutions For $720 Million". Forbes. December 23, 2010.
- ^ "NeuLion Completes Acquisition of DivX". Marketwired. January 30, 2015.
- ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (2018-03-26). "Endeavor Buys Streaming Provider NeuLion for $250 Million". Variety. Retrieved 2025-10-08.