High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) — The Next Generation Compression Technology

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is in development and aims to revolutionize the compression world with a potential 50% bitrate saving over Advanced Video Coding (AVC, or H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC). Is history repeating itself? There was a 10 year gap between the standardization of MPEG-2 Video and AVC, with AVC eventually maturing to deliver a 50% bitrate saving over MPEG-2 Video. The ITU-T|ISO/IEC Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) is aggressively aiming for a 2013 distribution date for the HEVC standard. Early investigations indicate there is scope for a 30–50% bitrate saving over AVC. Some may argue this is a technology without a home, but potential applications lie in IPTV over DSL where HEVC would increase service reach, or point-to-point links for newsgathering where bandwidth is at a premium. But the most applicable usages will be delivering the emerging 4Kx2K video format in the same channel capacity as HD AVC today and eventually more power-efficient coding for handheld devices. This paper explores the HEVC tool set enhancements that facilitate the compression gains over AVC, with example sequences compressed in the HM test model, and an exploration into the commercial opportunities which HEVC opens up in the television industry.

Published

2011-10

Content type

Original Research

Keywords

High Efficiency Video Coding, HEVC, H.265, next generation video coding

DOI

10.5594/M001098

ISBN

978-1-61482-940-9