Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 28, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
H.265, also known as HEVC, is a development of the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). It is currently assumed that, by offering it free of charge, the patent holders do not want to engage in a power struggle with Google and its VP9 codec, which had already been considered as the new streaming codec for 4K content on YouTube. Compared with H.264, the successor is expected to double coding efficiency and thus be particularly well suited to UHD-1 and UHD-2 content.
The fees per encoder and decoder sold were also established, and these have, by contrast, risen for large quantities: just like H.264, HEVC is free for up to 100,000 units per year, but if there are more, each costs 20 US cents. Unlike H.254, however, there is no volume discount from 5 million onward. Overall, companies are expected to have to pay a maximum of US$25 million, regardless of how much they use.
The licensing terms have already been signed by 25 companies, including Apple, BBC, Cisco, Siemens and Thomson.
You can find further information at MPEG LA.
Image: Screenshot MPEG LA
