German public broadcaster WDR and the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI will collaborate in the next months to test the video coding possibilities offered by forthcoming international standard VVC/H.266.
VVC/H.266 is the successor of HEVC/H.265, currently the most modern and efficient standard for video coding. It is used, for example, in smartphones for recording and playing videos and streaming high-definition video content on flat-screen TV sets.
Fraunhofer HHI was significantly involved in the development of HEVC/H.265 as well as its predecessor AVC/H.264, and is again a key contributor to the development of successor standard VVC/H.266. WDR is expecting the cooperation to primarily benefit viewers in terms of both video quality and data transmission costs.
Compared to HEVC/H.265, VVC/H.266 should allow data rate savings of up to 50%, according to the German research institute. Thus, a more efficient data transmission is possible in the fixed and especially in the mobile network, where data capacity is limited. For example, a 90-minute Ultra HD video encoded with HEVC/H.265 currently requires around 10GB of data, while with VVC/H.266 it will only take up around 5GB.
The new VVC/H.266 standard is anticipated to be officially released in summer 2020. In the course of 2021, the first products based on the new standard are expected to be launched commercially.
WDR and Fraunhofer HHI are already collaborating on testing prototypes in the laboratory. The first results will be presented at German technology exhibition IFA Berlin from September 6 to 11, 2019 at the joint booth with German industry association Deutsche TV-Plattform (stand 203a, hall 26).
