[LINK] New H.265 standard, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

"New codec set to ease pressure on broadband networks"

By Benny Har-Even January 28th, 2013 
<http://www.iptv-news.com/2013/01/new-codec-set-to-ease-pressure-on-
broadband-networks>


A new video format that promises to make video streaming over the 
internet much more efficient has been ratified by the ITU. 

The new H.265 standard, also known as High Efficiency Video Coding 
(HEVC), is claimed to be twice as efficient as its predecessor, H.264.

The new codec will enable Full HD 1080p video to be delivered over lower 
quality streams, offering a tangible quality improvement for customers.

Or, it could be employed to maintain quality levels while reducing the 
load on strained broadband networks. 

It has also been suggested that H.265 could enable next generation ‘4K’ 
video to streamed to those with net connections of 30Mbps or greater.

H.264 video was ratified as a standard in 2003, and currently accounts 
for 80 per cent of all online video. It is also the encoding format of 
choice for many broadcast systems, and for Blu-ray discs.

The H.265 format was created through collaboration between the ITU Video 
Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group 
(MPEG).

In a statement, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary-General, ITU said 
that: “ITU-T H.264 underpinned rapid progression and expansion of the 
video ecosystem, with many adopting it to replace their own proprietary 
compression codecs.

“The industry continues to look to ITU and its partners as the global 
benchmark for video compression, and I have no doubt that this new 
standard will be as effective as its predecessor in enabling the next 
wave of innovation in this fast-paced industry.”

While companies such as Broadcom, Cyberlink, Ericsson, Fraunhofer HHI, 
Mitsubishi and NHK have all showcased implementations of HEVC, a 
stumbling block over the adoption of H.265 is that is requires around 
four times the processing power for encoding and decoding. As such it 
will be some time before devices such as smartphones and tablets are 
powerful enough to make its use practical.

As it stands the H.265 standard supports 10-bit video, but the ITU team 
is continuing to work in extensions to the format, adding 12-bit colour 
support and stereoscopic (3D) video support.

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Cheers,
Stephen