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 the standardization of AVC, with AVC eventually maturing to deliver a 50% bitrate saving over MPEG-2 Video. The ITU-T vertical bar ISO/IEC Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) is aggressively aiming for a 2013 completion date for the HEVC standard. Early tool verification testing indicates there is scope for a 30% to 50% bitrate saving over AVC across a range of applications. Most applicable usage scenarios include mobile video/TV, where high picture quality at extremely low bitrates is required; the emerging 4KTV service, where delivery of 4KTV needs be viable in the same channel capacity as high-definition (HD) AVC today; internet protocol television over digital subscriber line, where HEVC would greatly increase service reach, increase the number of HD services, or both; and point-to-point links for newsgathering, where bandwidth is at a premium. This paper describes the HEVC toolset enhancements that facilitate the compression gains over AVC, with example sequences compressed in the HEVC test model, and explores the commercial opportunities that HEVC opens up in the television industry.