This text supplies a fast overview of the VVC codec: what it’s, the way it performs, what it prices, and what it’s good for. As you’ll be taught, VVC (additionally H.266) is one successor to the standard-based codec HEVC. VVC is designed to ship a 30% to 50% bitrate discount as in comparison with HEVC on the similar perceptual high quality with an encoding complexity of 10x HEVC and a decoding complexity of round 1.5x. The VVC specification was finalized in July 2020.

Since VVC is a standard-based codec (like HEVC) it in all probability gained’t be supported in browsers owned by members of the Alliance for Open Media who act to advertise their very own AV1 codec. For example, although HEVC was finalized in 2013, playback nonetheless isn’t supported on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, so it solely performs on 18% of accessible browsers in line with Can I Use. It appears unlikely that VVC will fare any higher than HEVC in these browsers.

From a decoding perspective, in my assessments of the Fraunhofer VVC decoder, detailed beneath, VVC playback was far more CPU-intensive than HEVC, so even when there was browser help for VVC, few publishers would deploy it for software program playback on computer systems or notebooks. Because of this, VVC should look ahead to {hardware} help (and browser help) for achievement on computer systems, which is able to take a minimum of two years from the July 2020 finalization date, plus the time vital for a essential mass of VVC-capable gadgets to build up. In fact, VVC playback on cellular and front room gadgets would require {hardware} help with the identical delays for {hardware} improvement and market development. 

VVC’s royalty scenario is greatest described as “sophisticated” and this may increasingly have an effect on each encoding efficiency and product availability. Although {hardware} builders want to begin contemplating VVC help instantly, most content material publishers can probably wait till effectively into 2022 or a lot later to begin contemplating this new codec.

On the time of this writing, VVC isn’t supported in any of Wowza’s services or products. 

About VVC

In line with MPEG documentation, Versatile Video Coding (VVC) is a codec “drafted by a joint collaborative staff of ITU-T and ISO/IEC specialists often known as the Joint Video Consultants Group (JVET), which is a partnership of the ITU-T Video Coding Consultants Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Transferring Image Consultants Group (MPEG).” As with AVC/H.264, and HEVC/H.265, this new codec took a reputation from every mother or father, VVC from MPEG, and H.266 from the ITU. As defined on this article, the codec was referred to as Versatile Video Coding as a result of it’s “meant to be very versatile and handle the entire video wants from low decision and low bitrates to excessive decision and excessive bitrates, HDR, 360 omnidirectional, and so forth.”

Like AVC and HEVC, VVC loved a protracted improvement cycle which started in 2015. On this regard, VVC is the traditional codec successor to HEVC. Nonetheless, in contrast to AVC and HEVC, which had been the one codecs launched by the 2 requirements our bodies for a number of years earlier than and after, VVC was launched proximate to the discharge of two different codecs, Important Video Coding (EVC), which was finalized in Could 2020, and Low Complexity Enhanced Video Coding (LCEVC), which was finalized in October 2020.

VVC Royalty Standing

As defined right here, HEVC’s royalty coverage has been extensively criticized as complicated, extreme, and opaque. To recount, there have been three swimming pools, one launched about 4 years after the specification was finalized. Recognized royalties exceed $60 million yearly in comparison with $9.75 for H.264. Two of the three swimming pools clearly don’t cost royalties on streamed content material, the third continues to be learning the market and deciding — a full eight years after the specification was initially launched. So, publishers encoding with HEVC nonetheless don’t know if royalties could apply.

This dysfunctionality clearly hindered HEVC adoption by software program publishers and sure offered the first motivation for the formation of the Alliance for Open Media. It could even have a profound impact on VVC adoption by chip distributors, in addition to laptop and different system producers.

To clarify, when HEVC was finalized in 2013, most chip and system producers instantly started deployments as a result of H.264 was an inexpensive commonplace with near-universal acceptance by publishers and gamers, they usually assumed that HEVC could be the identical. That assumption is now gone.

Again in 2013, satellite tv for pc and cable broadcast dominated streaming markets and there have been no severe codec opponents. In 2021, streaming is the canine and broadcast the tail, and AV1 may be very related competitors for each VVC and HEVC. So are EVC and LCEVC.

As you’ll count on, most of the expertise contributors to VVC are additionally in one of many HEVC swimming pools. So how will VVC keep away from the same end result?

Interoperability Signaling and Patent Pool Fostering

The primary approach is to supply interoperability signaling that may permit for various VVC encoding profiles that would exclude sure encoding “instruments.” One potential results of this could be to exclude a sure patented instrument as a result of the proprietor desires to cost extreme charges. Whereas this might assist keep away from extreme charges, it additionally introduces uncertainty as to encoding and decoding efficiency.

That’s, what occurs if essentially the most highly effective encoding instruments are excluded from most industrial profiles as a result of their patent house owners wouldn’t conform to commercially cheap phrases? Whereas it feels unlikely that VVC efficiency might be diluted on this style, we gained’t know till royalty insurance policies from each contributing firm are set. 

The second approach was to make use of patent pool fostering to encourage IP house owners to type a single patent pool and speed up the discharge of royalty phrases. These efforts led to the formation of two swimming pools, one administered by Entry Advance (previously HEVC Advance), the opposite MPEG LA. Each directors additionally handle HEVC patent swimming pools.

Entry Advance, which launched its pool earlier than the fostering efforts started, has already launched its phrases, which boosts the annual royalty cap from round $40 million for HEVC to over $60 million. Firms that license each HEVC and VVC from Entry Advance pay a better charge for VVC, however HEVC royalties are waived on merchandise that embody each. MPEG LA, which didn’t launch till after the fostering efforts, has but to announce phrases and it’s unclear whether or not a 3rd pool will type.

It’s anybody’s guess the place the mixed VVC royalty charge will find yourself. On the similar time, AV1, which will not be free however will definitely have a decrease price per unit royalty, is already being shipped on many 2021 mannequin good TVs and performs effectively on about 75% of the put in browsers. This enables publishers to unfold the encoding prices over many extra viewers and maximize bandwidth financial savings.

Efficiency

As with all standard-based codecs, VVC has a check mannequin, which implements all obtainable encoding instruments to ship most compression effectivity. Nonetheless, the check mannequin just isn’t designed for optimum efficiency and is usually by no means used for industrial encoding; it’s only a car for testing most codec effectivity. In a presentation obtainable right here, model 11 of the VVC check mannequin delivered 41% larger effectivity than HEVC however took 7.4x longer to encode and required 1.6x the CPU for decode.

Totally different industrial implementations of VVC may have completely different efficiency traits. In December 2020, I examined a prerelease model of Fraunhofer’s VVenC encoder and VVdeC decoder. In these assessments, VVC encoding was about 10x slower than the x265 HEVC codec, although, in a current e mail, Fraunhofer claimed that encoding instances had been now a lot quicker. As a degree of reference, encoding instances for the Alliance for Open Media’s AV1 implementation, aomenc, was about 7x HEVC and about .7x VVC.

You’ll be able to see the standard comparisons with the Alliance for Open Media’s AV1 implementation, aomenc, x265, and the x264 H.264 codec beneath. If you happen to learn the VVenC line throughout, you see that VVenC delivered a 39% effectivity acquire over x265, which is in keeping with the check mannequin and spectacular, however was solely 11% extra environment friendly than AV1.

I examined decode on an HP ZBook Studio G3 pocket book with an 8-core Intel Xeon E3-1505M CPU working Home windows 10 on 32GB of RAM. Fraunhofer’s decoder, VVdeC decoded the 1080p 30 check file at 37 fps, in comparison with 116 fps for AV1, 138 fps for H.HEVC, and 277 fps for H.264, all utilizing the default FFmpeg decoder for the respective codecs with out {hardware} co-processing. Like the opposite codecs, VVdeC codecs consumed between 70-100% of CPU throughout decode, making it too CPU-intensive for software-based playback on a reasonably highly effective pocket book.

Wanting Ahead

Past competitors from AV1, LCEVC, and EVC, the standard codec market, which is predicated upon an ordinary set of instruments that date again to 2003 and earlier than (see this text), is ripe for disruption. For example, many corporations, together with NVIDIA, Broadcom, and WaveOne have introduced packages involving AI-based codecs. As an increasing number of video is consumed by machines like vehicles and robots, AI-driven codecs, with completely different tuning for human and machine viewing, really feel inevitable. Whether or not this occurs throughout the related timeframe of VVC’s success or failure is unknown.

The earliest we might count on to see preliminary VVC participant deployments could be in mid-2022, after which it’s going to take time to build up a essential mass of VVC-capable gamers. As soon as these gamers seem, content material publishers ought to begin analyzing whether or not to combine VVC into their encoding plans. As mentioned on this article, dropping bandwidth prices from content material supply networks (CDNs) are making it tougher and tougher to financially justify adopting a brand new codec, notably if it’s costly to encode.

Total, the person VVC codec builders have made nice strides in delivering the promised bandwidth financial savings, although remaining efficiency gained’t be identified till the royalty insurance policies are set and we all know which instruments are during which profiles. Past that, given the various vary of different components in play, it’s not possible to know presently whether or not VVC will ever attain essential mass.

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Extra Sources:

• The Streaming Codec Panorama in 2021
• Video Codecs and Encoding: All the pieces You Ought to Know
• VP9 Codec: Google’s Open-Supply Expertise Defined

About Jan Ozer

Jan Ozer is a number one professional on H.264, H.265, VP9, and AV1 encoding for reside and on-demand manufacturing. Jan develops coaching programs for streaming media professionals, supplies testing companies to encoder builders, and helps video producers good their encoding ladders… View extra