A multimedia application program interface (API), selectively invoked in a computing
system to interface any video decoder application with any video accelerator is
presented comprising a command data structure and a residual difference data structure.
The residual difference data structure includes residual difference information
for use among and between the decoder and the accelerator in the prediction process.
The control command data structure includes control commands which are dynamically
tailored to interface the decoder application with a hardware accelerator in accordance
with an acceptable media processing standard negotiated between the decoder and
the accelerator.
