Is H.265 Really Better?

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Is H.265 Really Better?

H.265 vs H.264

Have you heard of the term H.265 before? It’s a type of video compression format that people are talking about these days. But what makes it different from other video formats and is it really better? Let’s find out!

H.265 vs H.264

What is Video Compression?

Before we dive into H.265, let’s first understand what video compression is. When we watch videos, it requires a lot of data to be transferred from the internet to our device. This data is in the form of bits and bytes and it takes up a lot of space. To make this process easier and faster, the data is compressed into a smaller size. This process is called video compression.

Why Do We Need Video Compression?

Video compression is important because it allows us to watch videos with high quality while using less internet data. This means that we can watch videos faster, even with a slow internet connection. It also helps to save storage space on our devices, as the compressed video takes up less space compared to the original, uncompressed video.

What is H.265?

H.265, also known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), is a type of video compression format that was developed to improve upon the previous H.264 format. It uses a more advanced compression algorithm, which means that the same video quality can be achieved with a smaller file size. This results in higher video quality and more efficient use of internet data.

Is H.265 Really Better?

The short answer is yes, H.265 is better than H.264 in terms of video quality and compression efficiency. H.265 can achieve the same video quality as H.264 with a smaller file size, making it a more efficient use of internet data and storage space. It also provides better image quality and has better support for 4K and 8K resolution videos.

However, there is a catch. H.265 requires more processing power compared to H.264, so not all devices may be able to play H.265 videos smoothly. Additionally, the compatibility of H.265 is not as widespread as H.264, which means that not all devices and media players may support H.265 videos.

Conclusion

In conclusion, H.265 is a better video compression format compared to H.264. It provides higher video quality and more efficient use of internet data and storage space. However,it may not be supported by all devices and may require more processing power, so it’s important to consider these factors when choosing between H.265 and H.264. Regardless, having a high-quality video is important, which is why Mp4Gain is the best solution to enhance your videos.

Remember, always choose a video compression format that best fits your needs and requirements, whether it’s H.265 or H.264. And with Mp4Gain, you can be sure to get the best video quality possible.

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H.266 / VCC is now official, the new codec of the future that claims to reduce the size of videos by half

H.266 / VCC is now official, the new codec of the future that claims to reduce the size of videos by half

H.266/VCC

The history of codecs is the story of how, as video qualities superior to the previous generation arrived, better compression algorithms were needed so that the size of the files did not skyrocket. In this sense, H.264 or AVC, which is still the standard today, was a great advance over formats such as DivX and fu from the one used on Blu-Ray discs. After being the winner of High Definition, H.265 / HEVC succeeded it as the winner of Ultra High Definition (on UHD Blu-Ray and 4K video compression on smartphones.

H266

Now, facing the 8K era, there is more competition than ever, but the recently introduced H.266 / VCC is again, for what it proposes, the one that seems to be a great candidate for winner of the decade again. After five years of development, it has been presented by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, and they promise that it will reduce the size of the videos in half compared to what they occupied with H.265. This means that if a current 4K movie occupies 10 GB, with this it would occupy 5 GB without losing detail.

These are the novelties of H.266, which will have more competition than ever
H266
With H.266 they have achieved the 50% bitrate reduction they were looking for
In addition to reducing the size by half, which in the official statement also relates to a 50% bitrate drop to maintain the same quality, H.266 will have support for SD, HD, 4K and 8K resolutions. In this sense, H.266 will also support adaptive resolution changes.

Additionally, how could it be otherwise, it will also support 10-bit HDR video with wide color spectra, which can be expanded in the future. This is important, because HDR formats, now being HDR10 and Dolby Vision the most popular, will also evolve. There will be support for 360 video and video streaming, such as games or shared screens.

HDR on television: this is the revolution called to eclipse 4K / UHD
IN XATAKA
HDR on television: this is the revolution called to eclipse 4K / UHD
H.266 will, according to the statement, be supported by Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Sony. With Apple and Qualcomm it is guaranteed that its expansion at the level of hardware support will be extensive, since chips with the ability to encode and decode need to arrive, as happened with the previous ones. Apple, for example, added these options with the A10 chip, previously, in the A9, it could only decode.

The key to adopting H.266 will be whether its advantages are worth it over being a closed standard
Even so, beyond all these advantages, the big problem with H.266 is that it is not an open codec, but a closed codec, like its predecessors. That means that, to integrate it into hardware and use it in software, you have to pay licenses, unlike the other codec called to succeed in this decade, AV1. This, which also has the support of large companies in the sector, such as Apple, Amazon, ARM, Netflix, Google, Intel, Mozilla, etc.

Being open the great asset of AV1, it will be necessary to see if its saving of 25% on average compared to H.265 compensates for its free compared to 50% of H.266. Recent history tells us that proprietary formats win.

What is the H.266 codec

What is the H.266 codec

H.266 (VVC)

The new H.266 standard, also known as VVC (Versatile Video Coding), is used to compress and decompress video files so that they take up less space when stored on a hard drive and less bandwidth when transferred through a net.

H.266/VVC

Codecs use different kinds of algorithms (similar to mathematical formulas) to reduce the size of files. The best codecs are the ones that reduce the files the most without significantly affecting the quality of the video.

codec h266 vvc compression
The new H.266 will be able to create files 50 percent smaller than the current H.265. This means that a 10 GB video encoded in H.264 occupies 5 GB in H.265 and only 2.5 GB in H.266.

H.264 Vs H.265 Vs H.266
Codec Publication year File size
H.264 2003 10 GB
H.265 2013 5 GB
H.266 2020 2.5 GB
This incredible reduction in file size will greatly help the playback and streaming of 8K HDR video content on the devices of the future.

In addition to that, the new codec will have support for 10-bit HDR and more versatility of resolutions (it will allow to scale or change the resolution adaptively).

The VVC standard specification document is over 500 pages long and it has taken Fraunhofer HHI engineers nearly 3 years to develop it together with their partners (Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Sony).

The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI, also known as Fraunhofer HHI or Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, is an organization dedicated to applied research and development in the fields of physics, electrical engineering and computer science .
For photographers it could also lead to a more efficient image file format and another challenge to the dominance of JPEG as the lightweight file type of choice as the HEIF image format – implemented by Apple on the iPhone and, more recently, by Canon on the 1D X Mark III- is based entirely on H.265 / HEVC compression. For the same reason, H.266 / VVC could lead to an even more efficient “VIC” format for photos, although this is pure speculation at the moment.

As for when it will actually be applied, the adoption could end up being faster than H.265 thanks to the creation of the MC-IF (Media Coding Industry Forum or Forum of the Media Coding Industry). This industry body, made up of more than 30 companies, will be responsible for the “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” licensing of H.266 / VVC when encoding and decoding software (and hardware) are released to the market. end of this year.

How do the audio and video codecs work?

For what purposes and how are codecs used?

Let’s start with the analysis of the name that is the result of the union of two words CODer and DECoder. In fact, through the codecs it should be possible both to decode multimedia, audio or video files, as well as to create them.
In reality, codecs do not always allow file creation and the reason is often legal or commercial in nature.

Its internal functioning is usually very complex, due to
to the nature of the processing they must perform. While the
The purpose is to allow the expansion capacity of the different players, so that they can see or let us listen to the content of the files written in a format that they did not understand at the time of their launch.

Regardless of the file format, the content is always the same, that is, a movie or audio, intended to be played.
So it was decided to introduce an additional software layer between the file and the player, which filters access to the file itself and that
always makes the player “see” the same type of object even if the file format varies.

In order to use codecs, you first need to know
its existence, which is why in Windows systems there are
parts of the log file, which collect information
on the different multimedia filters installed. Generally, your
Interaction with players is done through COM interfaces.
Simply put, when we tell our favorite player to open a media file, it will do nothing more than retrieve the list of installed codecs and try to open the file with
each. If one of the codecs is successful, the player will use it
to show us or listen to the file.

As we have seen, its use is completely transparent for the user and is completely managed by the player. Some players even manage the installation of the necessary codecs. However, it is also possible to install them manually. On Windows systems, codecs that use COM technology are generally in the form of DLLs that must be registered, a procedure that involves entering all public interfaces of the codec in the registry file.
To do this, you need to run the command
“Regsvr32 <dll name>” while uninstalling it
just add the “/ u” option to the first command.

Other operating systems use some interprocess communication mechanism other than COM, but the structure does not change. That is, it is always a filter to access the file.

The existence of different formats and related CODECs arises for technical and commercial reasons. Different multimedia companies usually prefer to define their own encoding formats, to optimize their use by their applications.
And in addition to this, by defining their own format, they are not obliged to pay user licenses
. This mainly applies to file generation; in fact, many codecs are simply decoders.

In this way, companies can add read support for various formats to their applications at no additional cost, while using their proprietary format for saving.