HEVC Codec Milestone Prepares World for MPEG4 Successor, H.265

There will be a new video codec in town sooner or later, one that will take over for the fourth incarnation of MPEG.

ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) began work on the H.265 in 2010.

H.265 is just an informal name, though, and the codec will only be finalized in 2013.

When it finally passes ratification, it will replace H.264 and will support resolutions of up to 7680 x 4320 pixels, or 8K for short.

This corresponds to data transmissions up to 67% faster compared to the current standard. Efficiency will go up too, by 35-40%.

This early committee draft will be finished this week and will be followed by an international standard in July (will allow companies to start chip designs) and the true, final form in January.