DVDDL

DVDDL stands for Digital Video Description Language. In this context, it is described as a domain-specific language designed to describe digital video data structures, streams, codecs, containers, timing, and associated metadata in a machine-readable form. The goal is to provide a precise, extensible description that can be used by asset management systems, transcoding pipelines, and quality assurance tools.

DVDDL emphasizes declarative syntax and modularization. Descriptions are organized into components such as Video, Audio, Subtitle tracks, Codecs, and Containers. A DVDDL document may specify properties like resolution, bitrate, frame rate, color space, and channel configurations, as well as constraints and versioning information. The language supports extensions and validation through schemas, enabling consistency across tools in a workflow.

Core concepts include media streams, track groups, and relationships (for example, a video track associated with a particular codec and a given container). It also supports metadata blocks and processing steps, which define optional transcoding profiles, filters, or packaging rules used during delivery.

Example DVDDL description: container: MP4; video: codec: H.264; width: 1920; height: 1080; framerate: 30; color_space: Rec. 709; audio: codec: AAC; channels: 2; sample_rate: 44100; metadata: title='Sample Video'; processing: encode_preset='high_quality'.

DVDDL is used conceptually to document media specifications and enable automated workflows. In practice, multiple toolchains reference DVDDL-like descriptions, but there is no universally adopted standard. Development continues in academic and industry forums as a way to interoperate among asset managers, encoders, and delivery networks.

See also: metadata standards, container formats, codec specifications, media asset management, transcoding pipelines.