H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)
Until recently, H.264 (also known as AVC) was the codec of choice for optimizing video quality and reducing file sizes. Moving to the H.265 (or HEVC) codec requires more processing power than H.264, but the HEVC codec is much more efficient and provides improved video quality at lower bit rates.
The milestone for the HEVC / H.265 video codec was the 2017 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), at which Apple announced HEVC as its “next-generation video codec.” The consequences of this event became global. With this interest in HEVC and the hardware support for HEVC video encoding already introduced in most mobile devices at the time, video content providers realized that HEVC was the new standard for video compression. for transmission.
HEVC versus AVC. What are the benefits of the HEVC codec?
From Apple’s ad: “In short, efficiency. And, first of all, the efficiency of the encoding. HEVC is approximately 40% more efficient than AVC. This means that playback with decent quality will start 40% faster for the user, and when the player fully adapts to streaming video, the content will look 40% better. We decided to make HEVC available to everyone. Newer Apple devices have HEVC support built into the hardware. Even for older devices that do not have this hardware support, we plan to implement the HEVC codec at the software level. So now HEVC will be used everywhere. ”
The answer to any company’s question about the choice between HEVC and AVC can be summed up in two main advantages of the HEVC codec.
HEVC is approximately twice as efficient as AVC
HEVC supports high dynamic range and 4K images
By using the HEVC codec with the same bandwidth as AVC, you can achieve higher video quality, or provide the same level of quality as AVC with half the bandwidth required for AVC.
How does the HEVC codec affect video content libraries?
For media and entertainment companies that are selecting and creating large content libraries at an incremental rate, the HEVC codec can provide big bitrate savings. As organizations struggle to keep up with consumer demand for multiscreen technology, organizations are facing increasing pressure on their storage infrastructure. Save on storage costs with the HEVC codec, which cuts file sizes in half, instead of doubling storage capacity.
What are the advantages of the HEVC codec in terms of bit rate?
There are several examples of how the improved quality-to-bitrate ratio in the HEVC codec will affect the professional environment. Because high-quality video distribution requires high network bandwidth, the benefits of improving this ratio include:
deployment of more channels in satellite, cable and IPTV networks;
reduce the cost of managed and unmanaged video distribution;
expand coverage for mobile operators and IPTV with limited bandwidth;
improve display quality when using OTT services at the usual level of broadcasters.
How does HEVC codec improve mobile streaming, Ultra HD 4K and 8K?
In the mobile streaming market, the HEVC codec offers bit rate reductions of 30-50 percent with video quality comparable to H.264, resulting in lower costs of delivering video content over networks.
When the device is capable of decoding HEVC, mobile operators can deliver much less data to achieve a certain level of quality, reducing costs and providing more reliable video playback.
The proliferation of HEVC is also consistent with the mass market interest in high definition video (Ultra HD 4K and 8K), as 4K TVs generally only support HEVC and newer codecs.
The main conclusion. On average, HEVC can deliver video of the same quality as H.264 at about half the bitrate (exact ratios may vary depending on content type).
For example, for a 1080p stream, a lossless editor can reduce the data rate from 8 Mbps to 4 Mbps. This reduction in bitrate can have a significant impact on the cost of edge caching, since the File size becomes smaller when delivered to end users.
