Playing H.265¶
H.265 (High Efficiency Video Compression — HEVC) is a new video compression format that gradually comes to replace H.264. It allows reduction of the file size compared to the previous H.264 standard up to 25-50%. At this, image quality remains high. It supports frame formats up to 8K (UHDTV) with a resolution of 8192×4320 pixels.
Instead of macroblocks that were used in H.264, blocks with a tree-like encoding structure are used in HEVC. The benefit of the HEVC encoder is that it uses larger blocks. The use of such blocks increases the efficiency of encoding while reducing the decoding time.
H.265 is a solution for screen resolutions higher than FullHD and is supported on various encoders: software, GPU (Nvidia NVENC, Intel Quick Sync), and hardware-based ones. Also, H.265 can be found on satellite TV and IP cameras.
H.265 support in browsers¶
Warning
Desktop browsers supporting H.265: Chrome (version 107 and higher), Microsoft Edge (version 16 and later), and Safari (version 11 and later).
Mobile browsers supporting H.265: Chrome (version 107 and higher) and Safari for iOS (version 11.0 and later).
Desktop browsers:
| Internet Explorer |
Microsoft Edge |
Mozilla Firefox |
Google Chrome |
Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Mobile browsers:
| iOS Safari |
Opera Mini |
Chrome for Android |
UC Browser for Android |
Samsung Internet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
On smartphones, H.265 is likely to be played on the processor, thus heavily loading the battery of the device.
Useful links:
- Can I use HEVC?
- Chromium AV Documentation
- Debug: DevTools Media Panel
- Debug: chrome://media-internals
HEVC in Surveillance¶
HEVC has long been used in scenarios that do not require video playback in a browser:
- Home surveillance, where users view video through a dedicated app on their smartphone
- Control rooms, where video is displayed on an NVR screen or a specialized player installed on a staff member's PC
In cases requiring access by multiple users, compatibility challenges with HEVC in browsers arise.
HEVC in Television¶
Building popular OTT or VOD services exclusively using HEVC is impractical, as many users still own devices lacking hardware HEVC decoding.
A graceful solution to this problem is encoding in multiple codecs. HLS players will automatically select a supported format.
H.265 support in protocols¶
- In the HLS protocol, the H.265 format has been maintained for a long time.
- In the MPEG-TS protocol, the H.265 format is supported.
- In the RTSP protocol, the H.265 format is supported. There is packaging in both SDP and RTP. The known issue with the transmission of bframes via RTSP is for a separate discussion.
H.265 support in players¶
The latest versions of VLC Media Player have built-in support for the H.265 format.
H.265 is also supported by set-top boxes and SmartTV.