HEVC, AV1, VVC and XVC: The codec battle intensifies

Rising consumption of more immersive video content with higher resolutions has pressured the industry into innovating ever more efficient video compression techniques. Entering IBC2018, the outcome is far from certain with a number of competing technologies vying for attention.

Ken McCann, a strategist at consultancy Zetacast, says the industry is experiencing a “once-in-a-decade” event caused by a major new family of video compression standards from MPEG and the ITU-T Study Group 16’s VCEG (Video Coding Experts Group) combined with the undermining of current MPEG standard HEVC by some of its own patent holders.

Analyst Ben Keen points to “a fascinating set of dynamics” playing out in the story of traditional codecs versus potentially disruptive alternatives. “It is a microcosm of the broader dynamic across the industry that sees traditional broadcasters grapple with the threat of global tech giants,” he says.

Compression has always been essential to digital video but what was at one time a relatively stable playing field engaged in by a few vendors has broken out of its niche. The codec battle has grabbed attention.

Regardless of the distribution channel, the cost for distributing video content is a major factor on the bottom line for most large video service providers as well as for infrastructure providers.

In many cases the quality of the compressed video has to be compromised in order to maintain a cost-efficient service and sometimes the video quality drops down to unacceptable levels just because of a bad network connection. Identifying a codec which could be deployed to improve quality and/or reduce costs is of interest for anyone in the media service and distribution business.

Recap before a look forward
The market today is dominated by the AVC/H.264 codec - a 15-year-old codec which is unable to…