H.264 vs H.265 vs H.266

 H.264 vs H.265 vs H.266

The most popular video codec right now is the H.264 standard since almost all media devices support it. Even video platforms on the web can’t help but add support for this codec, and for good reasons. YouTube, despite having its own, is beholden to H.264, and this won’t change for years to come.

Now, we do not expect it to be the top dog forever as more competitors come on the scene in hopes to replace it. The most notable would likely be the upgraded version, H.265, also known as HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding).

There is also the H.266 codec, but it differs a great deal when compared to the others we’ve just mentioned. Worry not, however, because we are going to explain each for your deeper understanding.

1] What is H.264 codec

This codec has been around since 2009, and for quite some time, it has been the standard. The codec is also known as AVC, MPEG-4 Part 10, and VC-1.

It’s a video compression standard that is designed to playback high-quality video at a small size than RAW and previous standards. We understand the compression ratio is twice that of MPEG-2, which is quite astonishing. It promises to provide high-quality content with no quality loss when compared to other standards. H.264 is used by most modern mobiles and 2K cameras.

Basically, if your file size is 88GB, H.264 compression can bring it down to a little over 800MB. Additionally, when compared to other compression technologies, low-bit rate plays an important role. In the end, users will save time when having to download or stream video content at any time.

2] What is H.265/HEVC codec

As you might be able to tell from the name, H.265/HEVC is the upgraded version of the previous, and it is designed to replace it at some time in the future. The new standard was released back in 2013, but only now has been getting huge support due to the rise of 4K. HEVC is promising a massive 50% bandwidth reduction compared to H.264 for the same video quality.

This will no doubt continue in the years to come as 4K televisions and monitors become more affordable. However, the big question right now, is, what makes H.265 the future?

Well, if you watch 4K content on YouTube, you should realize that it doesn’t hold a candle to the same video on a Bu-Ray disc. That is due to H.264 compression for the most part, and that is something the newer codec wants to solve.

From what we’ve come to understand, HEVC uses more efficient compression methods, therefore, the end content will showcase more detail and fewer artifacts. We all want this, which is why we cannot wait for more hardware manufacturers to support the future standard. H.265 is used by most modern mobiles and 4K cameras, and almost all new hardware now provides HEVC GPU acceleration.

Now, there is one big problem with H.265/HEVC right now. You see, it is quite slow if Hardware Acceleration is not in play. If you want to decode in HEVC, then a powerful computer is required. Intel 6th generation or newer, and AMD 6th generation or newer, are the CPUs you should consider when purchasing a computer for HEVC.

3] What is H.266 codec

In 2020, Fraunhofer HHI (together with partners like Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Sony) developed. The world has yet to fully accept H.265 as the new standard where video codecs are concerned, but already H.266 is being touted Fraunhofer HHI, the company behind all three codecs.

At the moment, we understand that this new codec, also known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC), won’t improve video quality over its predecessor, but is expected to reduce the size. So in a sense, it is the same as H.265, but with a smaller footprint. H.266 is promising a massive 50% bandwidth reduction compared to H.265 for the same video quality.

When the H.266 codec is adopted in the future, people from around the world may have little problems with streaming 8K content on their favourite platforms. H.266 is used by most modern mobiles and 8K cameras

H.266/VVC is supposed to support: 

• Picture resolutions from 4K to 16K as well as 360° videos
• YCbCr color spaces with 4:2:0 sampling, 10-bit
• YCbCr/RGB 4:4:4 and YCbCr 4:2:2
• Auxiliary channels (transparency, depth, etc.) 
• High dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut
• Bit depths up to 16 bits per component 
• Fixed and variable frame rates
• Progressive scanning 

The advantage of H.265 Camera

H.265 / HEVC is the latest video compression standard which is based on H.264, driven by ever increasing demand for high definition and the rapid development of imaging technology, UHD becomes trend in today's television and video surveillance market. UHD standards for ultra high definition includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD. 4K UHD equals 3840 x 2160 (approximate 8.29 megapixels), while 8K UHD equals 7680x4320 (approximate 33.18 megapixels). 

In today's video surveillance applications such as parking lot, hotel, safe city, harbor, air port and elsewhere large scaled and has growing demand on detail capturing, which, at the same time, pressuring on decoding and storage. Apparently, the introduction and development of H.265 standard brings extensive possibilities and optimism to the industry by addressing problems such as shortage of bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency and delivers other benefits.

In order to solve the high bandwidth problem for ultra high definition, the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) developed the H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding. Compared with current mainstream H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, the H.265 is able to double the data compression ratio, while improve video quality with low bit-rate. The H.265 supports both 4K UHD and 8K UHD resolution up to 8192x4320. In conclusion, H.265 is capable of further reducing 50% the data rate requested for high quality video coding. Bitrate is acclaimed to have approximate 40% to 50% down at 1080p while rendering superb image quality.  This enables IP camera to deliver smooth video with low bandwidth, which in turn, reducing the network bandwidth, and video storage size. Meanwhile, with the rapid development of 4G cellular mobile technology, the integration between the H.265 and 4G will have much possibilities.

HEVC/H.265 mainly features in the following aspects:

·         Higher compression efficiency, when compared with H.264/AVC. In same resolution, HEVC/H.265 has lower bitrate than H.264/HEVC.

·         Support high definition, ultra high definition video formats

·         Support frame rate of 20-60 frame per second video decoding, has same flexibility like the H.264/AVC, supports maximum 172fps.

·         Friendly network adaptation.

As leading and innovative corporate, Hisilicon and Ambarella can't resist its charm and prospect, both of them introducing the first H.265 SoC for ultra high definition IP cameras. Despite the reason that H.265 is still a new compression standard to video surveillance industry, the security camera manufacturers such as Hikvision and Dahua have already adopted H.265 in their latest product portfolio, including ultra high definition network camera, NVRs.

To start with cameras, Hikvision has a latest-released 2 megapixel H.265 low light smart camera DS-2CD5026FWD-(A)(P). As H.265 camera, the Darkfighter series ultra-low light Smart cameras are able to capture high quality colored images in dim light environment. DS-2CD5026FWD offers Full HD resolution with up to 60fps high frame rate, 120dB WDR, Auto Back Focus, P-Iris, PoE, 3D DNR and complete Smart Feature-set to meet a wide variety of applications. It supports H.265/H.264/MJPEG dual video compression, allowing over 40% lesser bandwidth use while acquiring outstanding image quality. Moreover, with its functions such as Intrusion Detection, Line Crossing Detection, Scene Change Detection, Audio Surge Detection, Audio Loss Detection, Defocus Detection, Face Detection, etc.

On video storage perspective, Dahua and Hikvision introduced a comprehensive H.265 4K NVR product lineup, which covers different demands from small to medium as well as large scaled applications. These network video recorders have capability to support up to 12 megapixel recording capability, supporting 1080p@60fps and H.265 preview and playback; 4 channel 4K resolution real time live view and playback; meanwhile, the NVR has many intelligent functions including smart video analysis, facial detection, privacy mask.

HD surveillance users can reduce bandwidth

HD Surveillance users can Reduce Bandwidth

When organizations are considering the switch from analogue systems to network-based HD solutions, there's often the perception that bandwidth levels will increase significantly, as will the costs associated with expanding network and storage capabilities. While these concerns do have merit, the truth is that HD video surveillance need not take up as much bandwidth and storage space as you might expect, so long as the right tools are in place.

When it comes down to managing a company’s network, IT professionals are generally cautious and strategic with how they allocate it. With only a modest percentage of the bandwidth usually reserved for video surveillance, the last thing an IT manager wants is video footage - particularly if it’s in HD - slowing down the entire network and taking up too much storage space.

The perception of high-definition video surveillance by those new to using it, is that HD surveillance takes up too much bandwidth and storage space and that you will have to pay a lot of money to expand your network and storage capacity in order to accommodate it. But HD video surveillance does not take up as much bandwidth and storage space as you might expect. Especially with technology advancing, surveillance cameras and systems are getting smarter and more adaptable to a variety of network and storage circumstances. Here are four things you can do to your HD cameras and system right away to lower bandwidth usage.

Selecting the right compression format

Getting familiar with your camera settings will allow you to maximize your image output without compromising storage space. Choose a compression format that best suits your needs. If you are looking to increase your storage, you may want to go with the h.264 compression format. Most HD video surveillance users are partial to H.264 over M-JPEG because of the way the compression works. It doesn’t capture each frame as a separate entity like M-JPEG. The video stream is composed of a reference frame, called an Index (I) Frame, and then changing areas of the image in subsequent frames, called Partial (P) Frames. The end result is a collection of I Frames and P Frames in an ordered pattern that is configurable on most cameras (for example: 1 I Frame every 30 Frames). This results in less “full" images (I Frames) and using less bandwidth and storage space without sacrificing image detail.

Use the appropriate resolution

Pick the camera that provides the least resolution that you need to get the job done. Why choose a 2 MP, when a 1 MP can do the job? Higher resolution generally means more bandwidth, which requires more storage. Obviously in a parking lot or areas where you are trying to cover a large area in high detail, a high megapixel camera is necessary. But if you are just monitoring a hallway or door, it makes sense to use an HD camera that can capture the detail you want at the lowest possible resolution.

Lower your frames per second

You are not shooting a movie, so there is no need to see 50 frames per second. Most people in the security industry use 5-7 frames per second, which in most cases, is going to show you everything you need to see evidence-wise and will be able to drop your bandwidth by a decent amount of megabits.

Recording on motion

Aside from adjusting camera settings to lower bandwidth, it is also a smart idea to configure your server to do event-based recordings. As an example, if you set up your servers to only record on motion events, then you will only capture footage whenever there is activity in the area that you are monitoring. The cameras are most likely always streaming to the server for live video, but with motion based recording they just wouldn’t be saving the data to the storage.

Differences H.265 and H.264

Differences between H.265 and H.264

A codec is an encoder and a decoder. An encoder compresses audio or video so it takes up less disk space. A decoder extracts audio or video information from the compressed file. Video and audio compression is a complex technical process, but the basic aim of a codec is quite straightforward:

(a) Reduce the size of the compressed media file as much as possible, but...(b) Keep the quality of the decoded audio and video as good as possible.

What is H.264?
H264 (aka MPEG-4 AVC) is currently a mainstream video compression format. It is widely used in Blu-ray discs, internet sources like videos in YouTube and iTunes Store, web software, and also HDTV broadcasts over terrestrial, cable and satellite.

What is H.265?

H.265 (also known as HEVC, short for High Efficiency Video Coding, developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC)) is a video compression standard whose predecessor is H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. H.265 HEVC ensures to deliver video quality identical to H.264 AVC at only half the bit rate, including better compression, delicate image and bandwidth saving. It Support up to 8K, Support up to 300 fps. It is likely to implement Ultra HD, 2K, 4K for Broadcast and Online (OTT).

H.265 vs H.264: Differences between H.265 and H.264

In general, H.265 has several big advantages over H.264, including better compression, delicate image and bandwidth saving. For more detailed differences, please read H.265 vs H.264 comparison table.

4 pcs 2MP IP cameras for 1 month, stream: 4096Kbps. 
H.264 IP camera need 42G×4×30=5T=1×3T+1×2T, so need 1 pc 3T and 1pc 2T HDD. 
H.265 IP camera need 21G×4×30=2.5T, so need 1 pc 3T HDD only, save at least 1 pc 2T HDD cost. 

Seven Advantages of IP or Network Camera Surveillance System

Seven Advantages of IP / Network Camera Surveillance System

1, the advancement: system use existing integrated wiring network transmission of images, and real-time surveillance. The system front-end equipment, attachment is concise, the back-end and only a set of software system.

2, reliability: the main equipment of WDR PoE network IP camera adopted embedded real-time operating system, the required equipment is simple, and image transmission is implemented through integrated wiring network, the reliability of the system is high.

3, price performance ratio: the required equipment system is extremely simple, system control by the backend software system implementation, eliminating the traditional analog surveillance system of a large number of devices, as a result of the image transmission through the network integrated wiring, saves a lot of video coaxial cable, reducing the cost.

4, security: system set up different levels of user permissions, only the highest authority of the user to set or change to the whole system, without permission of the user is receiving less than the image.

5, easy maintenance: the 3 megapixel waterproof IR h.264 CMOS IP camera installation of the system is simple, installation and use of the software system is also very simple. In the aspect of maintenance, system wiring is very simple, and the reliability of the main equipment is very high, maintain good performance, and can realize remote maintenance.

6, easy extension: when the need to increase surveillance points, surveillance host, only need to add 3MP outdoor vandalproof HD wdr dome camera can be through the existing network, without the need to change existing wiring system what to do.

7, wide range of application: using the network transmit real-time image, such as office, building inter-district remote surveillance: chain business, large factory room, the distal child care for the elderly, public building, there is no dangerous environment surveillance, surveillance, traffic regulation of all financial institutions branch, false alarms distinguishing, etc.

Capturing Crystal Clear Images With Megapixel Technology

Megapixel surveillance is not a new concept — its applications and benefits are starkly clear. What has changed are smarter cameras, taking advantage of the added pixels and a better understanding of illumination in real life. In the first of a two-part report, A&S examines how smarter megapixel cameras are getting; the second part looks at best practices for optimal performance.

The big picture for megapixel surveillance cameras looks bright, in the wake of the recession. HD and megapixel cameras are expected to make up nearly 30 percent of network camera shipments in 2011, according to IMS Research. By 2015, it is forecast that more than 60 percent of network cameras shipped will be of megapixel resolution.

The resolution increase has a noted effect on the whole surveillance system. While a 2.1-megapixel or 1,080p HD image is six times larger than a D1 image, the additional pixels require a bigger pipe to transmit more data. The infrastructure and storage costs for megapixel are well-documented, with ROI and TCO being used as arguments in favor of bigger pictures. The fate of megapixel is linked to the future of IP networks, with HD forecast to make up most high-resolution cameras compared to megapixel, according to IMS.

Megapixel surveillance requires careful planning, but the benefits of added resolution boost the accuracy of analytics. Edge devices take advantage of faster processors, resulting in smarter use of pixels. Analytics can help reduce bandwidth, as an event will trigger video streaming, rather than constantly sending the same still images over the network. A more distributed architecture puts less strain on networks and makes life easier.

Clarity is the main driver for megapixel. “At the end of the day, you're putting in a security system to protect life and provide evidence in a court of law,” said Stephen Moody, Security Development Manager for ViS Security Solutions, an integrator in Ireland.

Cracking the Code
H.264 is the de facto standard compression for megapixel cameras, due to its efficiency in crunching large data files into smaller ones for transmission and storage. As compression evolved from M-JPEG's stills to MPEG-4 and now to H.264, a variety of profiles yield differences in performance. With 17 profiles in all, three are the most common: baseline, main and high, said Sachin Khanna, PM for CCTV, Bosch Security Systems.

By profile, the baseline is appropriate for video conferencing; the main profile is good for broadcast video; and high profile is most applicable for HD broadcast video. “H.264 requires a fair amount of processing power for encoding and decoding; this may limit the camera's frame rate and dictate the NVR platform to achieve the desired performance,” said Rich Pineau, CTO of Oncam Global.

Most H.264 profiles stem from 2-D applications, with not all profiles being capable of integration. “Even if both cameras are H.264 and the manufacturers are partners, the system could still not work,” said Patrick Lim, Director of Sales and Marketing for Ademco Far East. “The I/O and output are hard to integrate. Some engineers say it's easy to plug and play — there's no such thing.”

About all Video CODECS

Codecs work in two ways – using temporal and spatial compression. Both schemes generally work with "lossy" compression, which means information that is redundant or unnoticeable to the viewer gets discarded (and hence is not retrievable).

Temporal compression is a method of compression which looks for information that is not necessary for continuity to the human eye It looks at the video information on a frame-by-frame basis for changes between frames. For example, if you're working with video of a section of freeway, there's a lot of redundant information in the image. The background rarely changes and most of the motion involved is from vehicles passing through the scene. The compression algorithm compares the first frame (known as a key frame) with the next (called a delta frame) to find anything that changes. After the key frame, it only keeps the information that does change, thus deleting a large portion of image. It does this for each frame. If there is a scene change, it tags the first frame of the new scene as the next key frame and continues comparing the following frames with this new key frame. As the number of key frames increases, so does the amount of motion delay. This will happen if an operator is panning a camera from left to right.

Spatial compression uses a different method to delete information that is common to the entire file or an entire sequence within the file. It also looks for redundant information, but instead of specifying each pixel in an area, it defines that area using coordinates.

Both of these compression methods reduce the overall transmission bandwidth requirements. If this is not sufficient, one can make a larger reduction by reducing the frame rate (that is, how many frames of video go by in a given second). Depending on the degree of changes one makes in each of these areas, the final output can vary greatly in quality.

Hardware codecs are an efficient way to compress and decompress video files. Hardware codecs are expensive, but deliver high-quality results. Using a hardware-compression device will deliver high-quality source video, but requires viewers to have the same decompression device in order to watch it. Hardware codecs are used often in video conferencing, where the equipment of the audience and the broadcaster are configured in the same way. A number of standards have been developed for video compression – MPEG, JPEG, and video conferencing.

Video Compression

MPEG stands for the Moving Picture Experts Group. MPEG is an ISO/IEC working group, established in 1988 to develop standards for digital audio and video formats. There are five MPEG standards being used or in development. Each compression standard was designed with a specific application and bit rate in mind, although MPEG compression scales well with increased bit rates.

Following is a list of video compression standards:

•MPEG-1 – designed for transmission rates of up to 1.5 Mbit/sec – is a standard for the compression of moving pictures and audio. This was based on CD-ROM video applications, and is a popular standard for video on the Internet, transmitted as .mpg files. In addition, level 3 of MPEG-1 is the most popular standard for digital compression of audio—known as MP3. This standard is available in most of the video codec units supplied for FMS and traffic management systems.

•MPEG-2 – designed for transmission rates between 1.5 and 15 Mbit/sec – is a standard on which Digital Television set top boxes and DVD compression is based. It is based on MPEG-1, but designed for the compression and transmission of digital broadcast television. The most significant enhancement from MPEG-1 is its ability to efficiently compress interlaced video. MPEG-2 scales well to HDTV resolution and bit rates, obviating the need for an MPEG-3. This standard is also provided in many of the video codecs supplied for FMS.

•MPEG-4 – a standard for multimedia and Web compression - MPEG-4 is an object-based compression, similar in nature to the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). Individual objects within a scene are tracked separately and compressed together to create an MPEG4 file. The files are sent as data packages and assembled at the viewer end. The result is a high quality motion picture. The more image data that is sent the greater the lag-time (or latency) before the video begins to play. Currently, this compression standard is not suited for real-time traffic observation systems that require pan-tilt-zoom capability. The "forward and store" scheme used in this system inhibits eye-hand coordination. However, this is an evolving standard. The latency factor between image capture and image viewing is being reduced. The latency factor can be reduced to a minimum if the image and motion quality do not have to meet commercial video production standards. Most surveillance systems can function without this quality and can use pan-tilt-zoom functions.

•MPEG-7 – this standard, currently under development, is also called the Multimedia Content Description Interface. When released, it is hoped that this standard will provide a framework for multimedia content that will include information on content manipulation, filtering and personalization, as well as the integrity and security of the content. Contrary to the previous MPEG standards, which described actual content, MPEG-7 will represent information about the content.

•MPEG-21 – work on this standard, also called the Multimedia Framework, has just begun. MPEG-21 will attempt to describe the elements needed to build an infrastructure for the delivery and consumption of multimedia content, and how they will relate to each other.

•JPEG – stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is also an ISO/IEC working group, but works to build standards for continuous tone image coding. JPEG is a lossy compression technique used for full-color or gray-scale images, by exploiting the fact that the human eye will not notice small color changes. Motion JPEG is a standard that is used for compression of images transmitted from CCTV cameras. It provides compressed motion in the same manner as MPEG, but is based on the JPEG standard.

•H.261 – is an ITU standard designed for two-way communication over ISDN lines (video conferencing) and supports data rates which are multiples of 64Kbit/s.

•H.263 – is based on H.261 with enhancements that improve video quality over modems.

•H.264 – is the latest MPEG standard for video encoding that is geared to take video beyond the realms of DVD quality by supporting Hi Definition CCTV video. H.264 can also reduce the size of digital video by more than 80% compared with M-JPEG and as much as 50% with MPEG-4, all without compromising image quality. This means that much less network bandwidth and storage space are required. Since the typical storage costs for surveillance projects represent between 20 and 30 percent of the project cost significant savings can be made.

Advantage:-

 1. H.264 cameras is that they reduce the amount of bandwidth needed.if your megapixel camera needed 10 Mb/s before (with MJPEG), it might now need only 1.5 Mb/s. So for each camera, you will save a lot of bandwidth.

 2. Eliminates barriers: Enables many more networks to support megapixel cameras.

 3. The bitstream is fully compatible with existing decoders with no error/drift.

 Disadvantages:-

 1. Using analytics with these cameras reduces the H.264 benefit.

 2. Costs few hundred dollars more per camera.