High Efficiency Video Coding

HEVC / H.265 / MPEG-H Part 2
High Efficiency Video Coding
StatusIn force
Year started7 June 2013 (11 years ago) (2013-06-07)
First publishedJuly 7, 2013 (11 years ago) (2013-07-07)
Latest version10.0
July 29, 2024 (3 months ago) (2024-07-29)
OrganizationITU-T, ISO, IEC
CommitteeSG16 (Secretary: Simao Campos) (VCEG), MPEG
Base standardsH.261, H.262, H.263, ISO/IEC 14496-2, H.264
Related standardsH.266, MPEG-5, MPEG-H
DomainVideo compression
LicenseMPEG LA[1]
Websitewww.itu.int/rec/T-REC-H.265

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed 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). In comparison to AVC, 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. It supports resolutions up to 8192×4320, including 8K UHD, and unlike the primarily 8-bit AVC, HEVC's higher fidelity Main 10 profile has been incorporated into nearly all supporting hardware.

While AVC uses the integer discrete cosine transform (DCT) with 4×4 and 8×8 block sizes, HEVC uses both integer DCT and discrete sine transform (DST) with varied block sizes between 4×4 and 32×32. The High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF) is based on HEVC.[2]

  1. ^ High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Family, H.265, MPEG-H Part 2 (Preliminary draft). Sustainability of Digital Formats. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Thomson, Gavin; Shah, Athar (2017). "Introducing HEIF and HEVC" (PDF). Apple Inc. Retrieved August 5, 2019.