Recording standards H.265 and H.264 (MPEG4)

Recording standards H.265 and H.264 (MPEG4)

H.264 H.265

Compression standards for video have been around since the advent of the IP Internet Protocol and are used in a variety of areas, from Internet video conferencing and broadband communications networks to digital TV, video surveillance, and mobile IP networks.

H265/HEVC - what you need to know - Createinmotion

At the moment, the most widespread and popular digital video encoding format is H.264, but manufacturers and consumers are paying more and more attention to the H.265 or HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) compression standard. Let’s take a look at its advantages and disadvantages.

H.264 and H.265 compression standards

What is the advantage of H.265?

The H.265 compression format uses only half the bit rate of the H.264 format, which means that you can transfer more information over the same bandwidth and reduce the cost of hardware “hardware”.

But despite this clear advantage, the H.265 format is still far from mainstream adoption. Can you do anything with the H.264 format so far? In fact, taking into account the growth of modern technologies and the popularity of video content, the bandwidth requirements of the channel and the amount of data stored are also growing.

The popular H.264 codec now doesn’t stand still, and its bitrate is optimized in three ways: predictive encoding, noise suppression, and “long-term” bitrate control. As a result, we managed to reduce the occupied video memory by up to 75%, which means that the H.264 codec will compete with the new H.265 codec for a long time.

H.265 Complexities

Since the H.264 codec is being finalized and has been used for a long time, manufacturers are in no rush to invest in equipment modernization. And according to the results of tests of the Н.265 codec by various teams, the conclusions turned out to be ambiguous. In a real comparison, the codecs did not differ much in the size of the video stream. But many gamers had trouble playing the new codec. The difference in video quality was noticeable only at the minimum setting (200 kbps). The H.265 image turned out to be more detailed, which can be useful in video surveillance to recognize license plates at the entrance.

An additional difficulty in the implementation of the H.265 codec is the higher cost of the patent, which means that the cost of the final product will also increase for the consumer, not everyone is ready for this. Modern video equipment is constantly evolving, the quality of the video signal is improving, and the cost of components is increasing.

Enhanced H.264 codec

Another reason for postponing H.265 was the introduction of optimized H.264 encoding technologies by popular manufacturers, using various modern technologies.

Optimized H.264 Technologies

Optimized H.264 technologies use predictive coding to reduce the bit rate spent on an unchanging background image.

Predictive coding

In a simplified version, this encoding is explained in the image. The static background is separated from moving objects and simplified, the bit rate is significantly reduced, the optimized encoding reduces the volume of video transmission.

H.264 + technology

Hikvision has developed a next-generation H.264 + compression standard. The video camera detects the moving parts of the frame and encodes them with higher bit rate content; less bit rate is assigned to static parts. In addition, the standard H.264 / AVC codec is used, with which you can view and store videos on compatible devices. The only thing is, H.264 + can’t add or subtract keyframes automatically.

Noise reduction

H.264 encoding can effectively suppress various noises that occur during signal recording and transmission. This could be unwanted electrical signals, blurry pixels caused by fluctuations in light, temperature, or other external interference. By intelligently coding foreground objects, the image becomes sharper and more accurate in color.

So is H.264 encoding better than H.265?

With the above in mind, let’s draw conclusions: H.264 encoding offers nothing less than the offerings of the H.265 standard. Also, H.264 is compatible with all existing systems, is more common, and costs less.

As a result, the H.265 standard offers up to a 50% advantage in video streaming compression: you will save on hard drive size or increase drive life.

Why is H264 a high quality video standard?

Let’s say you have a very good technology that allows you to have a high quality video using a small bit rate allowing high quality video to be offered to a wide variety of devices, from low-performance mobile phones to Blu-ray devices equipped with Maximum performance

H.264

In summary, the H264 is suitable for any platform, from handheld devices to high definition material.

The H264 standard reduces the amount of information needed to play a video.

Its compression system that I explain roughly so that it can be better understood in the video The best codec for editing videos makes you get a more compressed file and that does it along with its versatility of playback on different devices that is the preferred codec to export the final result of our edition.

It’s time for H.264.

Learn how to choose the right coding tool and optimize H.264 encoding for ideal quality and device compatibility

H.264 It is the only compression technology that plays on all computers, mobile devices, and OTT players. This makes producing high quality H.264 files compatible with your devices an essential skill. Helping you acquire and / or polish these skills is the objective of this article.
Well, we will start with the compatibility issue, because if the file cannot be played on the device that is needed, its quality does not really matter much. Then, we will see, the resolution, frame rate and data rate of your encoded file, since if these are wrong, using the H.264 encoding parameters will not matter either. So we will cover how to choose the correct coding tool and the H.264 codec and how to quickly adjust the x264 encoding parameters for optimal quality in the file.

H.265 H.264

Are you one of those who have hundreds of movies on the hard drive? Convert them to H.265 to save (much) space

Now that the H.265 format has been seated for a while and more and more devices are able to decode it, it is time for you to convert your movies to save hard disk space. A video in H.265 format measures up to 50% less than in H.264, while retaining the same quality.

What is H.265?

Also known as HEVC (“high efficiency video coding”), it is a video compression standard published in 2013 that improves its predecessor in several aspects, the H.264 / AVC format, whose first version was published in 2003. H.265 offers higher image quality at smaller bit rates, which means that files take up less space. It also supports 8K UHD resolution.

How does it benefit me? If you have an iPhone, you may already be using H.265. Apple introduced it in iOS 11 to reduce the size of videos, but only when they are stored on the phone (if you share them, they are converted to a more compatible format). You can also use it to save some space on your computer or multimedia server.

Imagine you have a movie on your hard drive that comes from a Blu-ray. The movie has been encoded in H.264 format and measures 12 GB. If you convert it to H.265 with a video encoder program (or video encoder, in English), the movie will measure between 6 and 9 GB. As simple as that.

Does H.265 have disadvantages?

Yes. First, compatibility. Only modern devices are capable of decoding H.265, so don’t bother if you have a TV or multimedia device that doesn’t support the format. Players like Plex transcode the movie in real time if your device is not compatible (that is, they convert H.265 to H.264 while watching the movie), which consumes a lot of energy and resources.

It is very hard for machines to code H.265, so you need a powerful CPU or GPU to do it faster (the good thing is that you only have to do it once). But it’s also hard to decode it, so a cheap NAS or player won’t be able to do it. H.265 gets along with old gadgets.

One last consideration: it is not clear that H.265 is the future. Large platforms such as YouTube and Netflix are bidding for another more compatible format called AV1 just because they don’t want to pay the H.265 license.

In any case, H.265 is the present. If you want or need to save gigabytes on your hard drive, you have the solution a few clicks away.