14 DAY TRIAL // Right now, most of the members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) use the H.246 video codec to transmit high-definition video.
Everything from Blu-ray players to web video uses H.264 nowadays.
The successor to that standard has been released though. Dubbed ITU-T H.265, it keeps the same image quality but cuts the necessary bit rate in half.
The ITU says that H.265 will support all the video needs for the next two decades, starting with 4K that is already arriving (UHD, 3840 x 2160 pixels).
Since consumers always want better, and ISPs (Internet service providers) are already feeling limited by their throughput, the spreading of the new standard is a foregone conclusion.
Companies like Mitsubishi have already demonstrated the new format. It will take years for H.265 to actually replace H.264 though.