Thursday, July 9, 2020

New H.266/VVC codec improves efficiency by 50%

Thursday, July 09, 2020  , , ,  

After devoting several years to its research and standardization, Fraunhofer HHI, together with partners including Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Sony, announced the release of H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC).

The new H.266/VVC global video coding standard reduces bandwidth requirements by around 50% relative to the previous standard H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) without compromising visual quality.

H.266/VVC provides efficient transmission and storage of all video resolutions from SD to HD up to 4K and 8K, while supporting high dynamic range video and omnidirectional 360° video.

Fraunhofer HHI said H.266/VVC represents the pinnacle of (at least) four generations of international standards for video coding. The previous standards H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) and H.265/HEVC, which were produced with substantial contributions from Fraunhofer HHI, remain active in more than 10 billion end devices, processing over 90% of the total global volume of video bits.

As an example of improved efficiency, the previous standard H.265/HEVC requires ca. 10 gigabytes of data to transmit a 90-min UHD video. H.266/VVC requires only 5 gigabytes of data to achieve the same quality. Because H.266/VVC was developed with ultra-high-resolution video content in mind, the new standard is particularly beneficial when streaming 4K or 8K videos.

“After dedicating almost three years toward this standard, we are proud to have been instrumental in developing H.266/VVC," says Benjamin Bross, head of the Video Coding Systems group at Fraunhofer HHI and editor of the +500-page standard specification of H.266/VVC. “Because of the quantum leap in coding efficiency offered by H.266/VVC, the use of video will increase further worldwide. Moreover, the increased versatility of H.266/VVC makes its use more attractive for a broader range of applications related to the transmission and storage of video.”

"If you consider that Fraunhofer HHI already played a key role in the development of the previous video coding standards H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC, then we are happy with the fact that more than 50% of the bits on the Internet are generated by a Fraunhofer HHI technology,” adds Dr. Detlev Marpe, head of the Video Coding and Analytics department at Fraunhofer HHI.

A uniform and transparent licensing model based on the FRAND principle (i.e., fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) is planned to be established for the use of standard essential patents related to H.266/VVC.