A video compression standard designed to provide improved video quality and compression efficiency compared to its predecessor, H.264/AVC (Advanced Video Coding). Developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC), a collaboration between the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), HEVC was finalized in 2013. The standard was published in 2013 as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10).
Technical Advantages
HEVC offers from 25% to 50% better data compression at the same level of video quality, or substantially improved video quality at the same bit rate. For example, standard 4K video capture at 30 frames per second typically requires a target bitrate of approximately 50 Mbps using HEVC, requiring roughly 22.5 GB of storage volume per hour, compared to the 100 Mbps and 45 GB per hour required by older H.264 profiles.
Hardware Requirements
Computational complexity: HEVC's increased compression efficiency comes at the cost of higher computational complexity, which can result in increased encoding and decoding times and require more powerful hardware.
Supported Resolutions
HEVC supports resolutions up to 8192×4320, including 8K UHD, and unlike the primarily eight-bit AVC, HEVC's higher-fidelity Main 10 profile has been incorporated into near.
Adoption
Device compatibility: HEVC adoption has been somewhat slower, especially on older or less powerful devices that may struggle with the increased processing demands. Nonetheless, many modern devices, platforms, and video streaming services now support HEVC due to its advantages in terms of video quality and bandwidth efficiency.