What better way to kick off 2021 than by picking up on a narrative that defined and shaped the video entertainment ecosystem during 2020? No, we’re not talking about the pandemic, but video codecs. More specifically, video codec patent royalties – the perpetual thorn in the side of the video streaming industry. Eyes generally roll back into heads whenever codec royalties are mentioned in conversation – an unfortunate side effect from some five years of division and chaos. The video codec scene has become so politically charged in recent years that it has driven the world’s greatest codec minds to the brink, namely MPEG founding father Leonardo Chiariglione, who turned his back on the codec group he helped create last…