2013年3月14日
By Kanaan Jemili Rovi公司产品管理高级副总裁
专题文章

为什么HEVC的发展比你想象的要快

高效视频编码, or HEVC, was the star of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. 毕竟, what’s not to love about a breathtaking new compression technology that can maintain visual quality while shrinking video into nearly half the file size? The benefits of HEVC are clear and will help promote and streamline video distribution. Content owners could store more video and movies for the same cost, broadcasters could stream video more efficiently across networks, and consumers could enjoy a much better entertainment experience as video is more easily streamed directly to all their devices.

虽然没有人否认HEVC是一个重大的飞跃, there is some argument over when the technology will be embraced by the market. Is the timeframe for mainstream adoption five years, three years or two years out? In actuality, the opportunity for HEVC may be even more immediate.

一开始

首先简单介绍一下背景. Since the early days of video delivery, there have been several big jumps in 编解码器压缩技术. 第一个是MPEG-2到MPEG-4 ASP. 然后从mpeg - 4asp到高级视频编码(AVC). 现在我们有AVC到HEVC. These were all advancements, but it took the industry years to transition to the new standards. 广播行业就是一个很好的例子. Many broadcasters are still using MPEG-2 and have yet to make the switch to MPEG-4 AVC, 尽管在压缩方面有明显的收益.

那么HEVC为什么会有所不同呢? 首先，视频比以往任何时候都更重要. 比其他任何技术都重要, digital video is driving the future of communications and the internet. 事实上,一个最近的研究 conducted by Rovi found that approximately 66 % of tablet users and 71% of mobile phone users across the U.S. 每周在这些设备上观看2到3次或更多的视频. 同时, mobile device users indicated they are worried about costs related to streaming video. Approximately half of the respondents say that they limit the amount of video streamed on their mobile phones over cost concerns. Couple this with slow load times and all too frequent pauses in the action due to buffering, 很容易理解为什么消费者会欢迎HEVC.

HEVC的优势

HEVC可以减少这些担忧. Those who enjoy watching videos on smartphones but are wary of a big bill at the end of the month will benefit most as the expense of digital video delivery over mobile networks is reduced. 如今，视频是大多数数据计划的敌人. 在Netflix上呆上几天就可以消除任何带宽限制. 但是HEVC降低了压缩率, 消费者可以以更低的总成本观看更多的视频.

更重要的是, 因为设备开始在芯片级别支持HEVC播放, the processing power required to play these videos will decrease, 节省电池寿命和, 在一般情况下, 改善移动视频的整体体验.

对于设备制造商, HEVC is one of the few ways to really improve their hardware and gain competitive advantage by giving consumers better, 快, 更便宜的数字视频. It’s also a strong incentive to quickly introduce new devices that are HEVC-compatible. Some say it will be years before the hardware is ready in to handle HEVC. The truth, however, is that chip companies are planning to release HEVC decoders very soon. 到今年年底, there will be PCs and smartphones on the market that can play high definition HEVC streams in real-time.

4K的崛起

HEVC采用的另一个巨大推动力是 4K (3840 x2160)视频. 4K offers mind-blowing clarity and represents a major step up from 1080p (1920x1080 pixels) at 4 times the number of pixels. 当然，问题是4K文件太大了. But with a compression standard like HEVC, 4K suddenly becomes feasible. In fact, 4K could become the killer application for HEVC, like HD was for AVC.

It is now possible to play 4K video on hardware that uses plug-in power, and it is only a matter of time before 4K becomes practical for laptops, 移动设备, 甚至是数码相机. 哪个消费者不喜欢4K摄像机呢, especially if they can get jaw-dropping resolution and higher compression that makes it easier than ever to share and enjoy state-of-the-art photos and home videos? 也, 静止图像的分辨率在4k范围内, and once consumers’ experience breathtakingly high resolutions on their screens, 它们将有助于推动4K屏幕的需求.

现在，云存储已经进入了主流, HEVC的经济优势变得更加明显. Many cloud companies are charging a fee for anything beyond basic storage capacity, forcing consumers to pick and choose what they put in the cloud. 但是HEVC, 消费者可以存储更多的家庭视频和照片, 还有数百小时的娱乐节目和电影, 同时在这个过程中省钱.

迈出这一步

HEVC could also act as a catalyst for infrastructure players like broadcasters. 可以想象，许多广播公司, 尤其是那些还停留在MPEG-2时代的人, 会看到HEVC提供的巨大飞跃，然后说, “哇, 现在是时候采取行动了.”

当然，也有经济力量在起作用. 如果这些大公司不尽快采取行动, they will be even less competitive because they are not compressing video as efficiently as their rivals. 和, 4K即将到来, broadcasters and cable providers will certainly feel the pressure to start offering more products and services to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu that are in a position to adapt more quickly.

最后, 不像过去, the entire ecosystem is firmly in place to drive the rapid adoption of HEVC. Compression technology today is tightly linked to things like digital rights management and adaptive streaming. 此外, hardware and software vendors are solidly integrated into the ecosystem, enabling them to take advantage of new standards like HEVC 快 than ever.

随着在线视频和联网设备的爆炸式增长, consumers will be on the receiving end of a bonanza of high-quality, 低带宽娱乐. 和 the best part: it’s all going to happen a lot sooner than you think.

[编者注:这是一篇由供应商撰写的文章. StreamingMedia.com accepts vendor-written 文章 based upon their usefulness to our readers.]