… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1669: StreamingMedia Codec Survey

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The survey is 15 questions – and takes about five minutes.

StreamingMedia.com is conducting a survey on encoding and transcoding media. Here’s their description:

Encoding and transcoding are at the core of everything we cover here at Streaming Media, and we thought it was time to take the pulse of the industry and find out, as Wayne Gretzky famously said, “where the puck is going” regarding video compression and related technologies and workflows.

Is H.264 still the leading codec? How many publishers are using content/context-aware encoding? Are enhancements like HDR and premium audio part of most encoding workflows? What sorts of DRM are publishers implementing? Those are the kinds of questions we’re looking to answer.

And who better to help us understand the market than you? So we’ve put together a short 15-question survey looking at the codec usage (both now and in the future), encoding optimization, content protection, premium video/audio features, and more. The survey should take only 5 minutes to complete, and if you share your email, we’ll enter you in a drawing to win a $500 Amazon gift card. We won’t share your contact information, and the only other thing we’ll use your email for is to send you a copy of the results as soon as they’re available.

The survey closes on June 18.

Here’s the survey link.

… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1657: Will the VVC Codec Succeed?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

VVC has the possibility to succeed, but not for a couple of years.

Last week, Tip #1629 introduced the new VVC codec. This codec is designed to take the place of HEVC going forward. But, is it any good?

Jan Ozer, a technology writer and compressionist whom I respect a lot, recently took a deep dive into this subject for TechRadar.com. Here are some of his thoughts.

• What’s the codec’s comparative efficiency? It is advertised as half the bandwidth of HEVC. Jan measures it closer to 30%. However, the reason publishers typically adopt new codecs like HEVC is because they open markets for new customers.
• What new markets or platforms does the codec enable? Looking back, H.264 was very quickly deployed by streaming publishers because it enabled delivery to mobile devices, which the previous codec, VP6, didn’t. Similarly, most of the publishers that deploy HEVC do so to send 4K SDR/HDR videos to SmartTVs, a market they couldn’t affordably serve with H.264.

As we’ll discuss in a moment, VVC is at least 2-3 years out from meaningful deployments. Perhaps at that time 8K or VR will be new and compelling markets, though it’s generally acknowledged that without high dynamic range, 4K video is tough to distinguish from HD in most configurations. Best case, at this point, we just don’t know if VVC will enable any new markets or not.

Jan goes on to analyze seven more questions to help determine whether a codec will be successful. These include:

• How is encoding time?
• Can VVC be implemented in software on relevant platforms?
• Does the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) support the codec?
• Is the codec a MPEG standard?
• What’s the technology ownership and monetization model?
• How set is the royalty structure?
• Is there a content royalty?

The article is excellent, readable and informative. The short take: “If you’re a streaming producer worried about missing the boat on VVC, file that concern in the “worry about in 2022” file.

… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1623: H.264 is Going Away. Chaos is Coming.

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

“Feudal” and “obtuse” MPEG bureaucrats blamed.

This article, written by Adrian Penington, first appeared in NAB Amplify. This is a summary.

MPEG has been the dominant force in driving standardization of video compression format over three decades successfully delivering successive generations which drive bitrates down while keeping quality up.

In recent times its codec HEVC/H.265, the successor to the world’s current dominant code AVC H.264, has become mired in opaque patent pools which has hindered adoption and caused web giants and OEMs to seek alternatives. The mistakes in implementing HEVC and in not correcting them in time have come home to roost.

MPEG’s once dominant position seems to have come to an end — “and the blame seems to be entirely on the mess that arose from intellectual property claims and royalties,” concludes Rethink Research in a comprehensive analysis of the codec sector.

This matters because codecs are essential components of any video business, particularly when streaming content OTT to devices everywhere. Decisions on which horse to back need taking some time out and investments don’t run cheap. In fact, they could be about to get steeper for all concerned.

Instead of one codec to rule them all, as was the state of play for the last 30 years, what all this means for the next few decades is a fractured market with no single codec reach the same dominant position of MPEG 2 or AVC.

EXTRA CREDIT

Turning to the ReThink TV website, they summarize the report as:

• AVC (H.264) will finally decline, but its direct successor (H.265) will not replace it entirely.
• As HEVC grows, its own successor VVC (H.266) becomes a direct competitor. This, and its high royalty fees, will stall growth, as well as the memory of the infamous HEVC royalty wars.
• AV1 will emerge as an OTT option, but is still dogged by Sisvel’s recent appearance and royalty claims.
• LCEVC will take root, initially in the AOMedia ecosystem, but expanding comfortably into the MPEG family by 2030.

Here’s a link to the Executive Summary of the ReThink TV Report.

… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1629: What is the VVC Codec

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Versatile Video Coding was finalized July 6, 2020, rolling out early 2021.

The VVC codec is promoted as the successor to HEVC. (And HEVC is currently not predicted to achieve the success of H.264 – see Tip #1623). But what is it?

Versatile Video Coding (VVC), also called H.266, is a brand-new video compression technology that is under current development to help reduce video size while not sacrificing image quality…. The VVC codec is especially designed to aid in the smoothness of higher-quality video services such as 360° omnidirectional immersive multimedia, high-dynamic-range (HDR) video and conventional dynamic range video. (5KPlayer.com )

NOTE: How large are HD video files without compression? A 1080p 30fps video, would require bandwidth of 1423.82 Mbps! To stream a second of 4K video, bandwidth aproaches 6 Gbps!!

Compared with royalty-free video coding formats like AVI and VP9, the H.26x series, including H.266, H.265, H.264, etc., are proprietary with numbers of patent pool administrators.

Normally, one of the reasons that a new video coding standard is worth spreading is due to improvement of the video compression algorithm. The higher the compression ratio, the less the bit rate for data transmission, the smaller the file size would be. Given that, what are the benefits of H.266?

• H.266 comes with new algorithm, 30% to 50% higher compression rate for the same video quality than HEVC. A video file encoded in VVC therefore would be much smaller than in HEVC, let alone one compressed using H.264 (AVC).
• In terms of quality, H.266 so good that barely any cother odec can match it at the same data rate.
• VVC is better for streaming UHD content in 4K, 8K and even 16K on TV.
• Better support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and 360° video.

Here’s a link with more details , written for non-engineers.