H. 264 is a standard for video compression. Video compression refers to reducing the quantity of Data used to represent video images and is a straightforward combination of Image compression and Motion It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding). It is one of the latest block-oriented motion-estimation-based codecs developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) together with the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) as the product of a partnership effort known as the Joint Video Team (JVT). The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ( ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication The Video Coding Experts Group or VCEG is the informal name of Question 6 (Video coding of Working Party 3 (Media coding of Study Group 16 (Multimedia terminals systems The International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental international Standards organization that prepares and publishes The Moving Picture Experts Group, commonly referred to as simply MPEG, is a Working group of ISO / IEC charged with the development of video and The ITU-T H. 264 standard and the ISO/IEC MPEG-4 Part 10 standard (formally, ISO/IEC 14496-10) are jointly maintained so that they have identical technical content. MPEG-4 is a collection of methods defining compression of audio and visual (AV digital data The final drafting work on the first version of the standard was completed in May 2003.

Overview

The intent of the H. 264/AVC project was to create a standard capable of providing good video quality at substantially lower bit rates than previous standards (e. g. half or less the bit rate of MPEG-2, H.263, or MPEG-4 Part 2), without increasing the complexity of design so much that it would be impractical or excessively expensive to implement. MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" H263 is a Video codec standard originally designed as a low-bitrate compressed format for Videoconferencing. MPEG-4 Part 2 is a Video compression technology developed by MPEG. An additional goal was to provide enough flexibility to allow the standard to be applied to a wide variety of applications on a wide variety of networks and systems, including low and high bit rates, low and high resolution video, broadcast, DVD storage, RTP/IP packet networks, and ITU-T multimedia telephony systems. For the band see Broadcast (band Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or Video signals which transmit DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is The Real-time Transport Protocol (or RTP) defines a standardized packet format for delivering audio and video over the Internet The Internet Protocol ( IP) is a protocol used for communicating data across a Packet-switched Internetwork using the Internet Protocol The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ( ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication In Telecommunication, telephony (təˈlɛfəni or teh-LEH-fuh-nee encompasses the general use of equipment to provide voice communication over distances specifically

The standardization of the first version of H. 264/AVC was completed in May of 2003. The JVT then developed extensions to the original standard that are known as the Fidelity Range Extensions (FRExt). These extensions enable higher quality video coding by supporting increased sample bit depth precision and higher-resolution color information, including sampling structures known as YUV 4:2:2 and YUV 4:4:4. Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information Several other features are also included in the Fidelity Range Extensions project, such as adaptive switching between 4×4 and 8×8 integer transforms, encoder-specified perceptual-based quantization weighting matrices, efficient inter-picture lossless coding, and support of additional color spaces. The design work on the Fidelity Range Extensions was completed in July of 2004, and the drafting work on them was completed in September of 2004.

Further recent extensions of the standard have included adding five new profiles intended primarily for professional applications, adding extended-gamut color space support, defining additional aspect ratio indicators, defining two additional types of "supplemental enhancement information" (post-filter hint and tone mapping), and deprecating one of the prior FRExt profiles that industry feedback indicated should have been designed differently.

Scalable Video Coding as specified in Annex G of H. Scalable Video Coding ( SVC) is the name given to an extension of the H 264/AVC allows the construction of bitstreams that contain sub-bitstreams that conform to H. 264/AVC. For temporal bitstream scalability, i. e. , the presence of a sub-bitstream with a smaller temporal sampling rate than the bitstream, complete access units are removed from the bitstream when deriving the sub-bitstream. In this case, high-level syntax and inter prediction reference pictures in the bitstream are constructed accordingly. For spatial and quality bitstream scalability, i. e. the presence of a sub-bitstream with lower spatial resolution or quality than the bitstream, NAL units are removed from the bitstream when deriving the sub-bitstream. In this case, inter-layer prediction, i. e. , the prediction of the higher spatial resolution or quality signal by data of the lower spatial resolution or quality signal, is typically used for efficient coding. The Scalable Video Coding extension was completed in November 2007. Scalable Video Coding ( SVC) is the name given to an extension of the H

The H. 264 name follows the ITU-T naming convention, where the standard is a member of the H. The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ( ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication 26x line of VCEG video coding standards; the MPEG-4 AVC name relates to the naming convention in ISO/IEC MPEG, where the standard is part 10 of ISO/IEC 14496, which is the suite of standards known as MPEG-4. The Video Coding Experts Group or VCEG is the informal name of Question 6 (Video coding of Working Party 3 (Media coding of Study Group 16 (Multimedia terminals systems The International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental international Standards organization that prepares and publishes The Moving Picture Experts Group, commonly referred to as simply MPEG, is a Working group of ISO / IEC charged with the development of video and The standard was developed jointly in a partnership of VCEG and MPEG, after earlier development work in the ITU-T as a VCEG project called H. 26L. It is thus common to refer to the standard with names such as H. 264/AVC, AVC/H. 264, H. 264/MPEG-4 AVC, or MPEG-4/H. 264 AVC, to emphasize the common heritage. The name H. 26L, referring to its ITU-T history, is less common, but still used. Occasionally, it is also referred to as "the JVT codec", in reference to the Joint Video Team (JVT) organization that developed it. (Such partnership and multiple naming is not uncommon—for example, the video codec standard known as MPEG-2 also arose from the partnership between MPEG and the ITU-T, where MPEG-2 video is known to the ITU-T community as H. MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" The Moving Picture Experts Group, commonly referred to as simply MPEG, is a Working group of ISO / IEC charged with the development of video and The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector ( ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" 262. ^[1])

Features

H. 264/AVC/MPEG-4 Part 10 contains a number of new features that allow it to compress video much more effectively than older standards and to provide more flexibility for application to a wide variety of network environments. In particular, some such key features include:

• Multi-picture inter-picture prediction including the following features:
  • Using previously-encoded pictures as references in a much more flexible way than in past standards, allowing up to 16 reference frames (or 32 reference fields, in the case of interlaced encoding) to be used in some cases. An inter frame is a frame in a Video compression stream which is expressed as the change from one or more other frames This is in contrast to prior standards, where the limit was typically one; or, in the case of conventional "B pictures", two. I-frame redirects here For the HTML-element see IFrame. The three major picture types found in typical Video compression designs are This particular feature usually allows modest improvements in bit rate and quality in most scenes. But in certain types of scenes, such as those with repetitive motion or back-and-forth scene cuts or uncovered background areas, it allows a significant reduction in bit rate while maintaining clarity.
  • Variable block-size motion compensation (VBSMC) with block sizes as large as 16×16 and as small as 4×4, enabling precise segmentation of moving regions. One method used by various video formats to reduce file size is motion compensation. The supported luma prediction block sizes include 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×8, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4, many of which can be used together in a single macroblock. Chroma prediction block sizes are correspondingly smaller according to the chroma subsampling in use. Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information
  • The ability to use multiple motion vectors per macroblock (one or two per partition) with a maximum of 32 in the case of a B macroblock constructed of 16 4x4 partitions. The motion vectors for each 8×8 or larger partition region can point to different reference pictures.
  • The ability to use any macroblock type in B-frames, including I-macroblocks, resulting in much more efficient encoding when using B-frames. This feature was notably left out from MPEG-4 ASP. MPEG-4 Part 2 is a Video compression technology developed by MPEG.
  • Six-tap filtering for derivation of half-pel luma sample predictions, for sharper subpixel motion-compensation. As applied to video signals luma represents the brightness in an image (the "black and white" or achromatic portion of the image Quarter-pixel motion is derived by linear interpolation of the halfpel values, to save processing power.
  • Quarter-pixel precision for motion compensation, enabling precise description of the displacements of moving areas. Quarter pixel (also known as Q-pel or Qpel) refers to a quarter of a standard Pixel. For chroma the resolution is typically halved both vertically and horizontally (see 4:2:0) therefore the motion compensation of chroma uses one-eighth chroma pixel grid units. Chrominance ( chroma for short is the signal used in many Video systems to carry the color information of the picture separately from the accompanying luma Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information
  • Weighted prediction, allowing an encoder to specify the use of a scaling and offset when performing motion compensation, and providing a significant benefit in performance in special cases—such as fade-to-black, fade-in, and cross-fade transitions. One method used by various video formats to reduce file size is motion compensation. This includes implicit weighted prediction for B-frames, and explicit weighted prediction for P-frames.
• Spatial prediction from the edges of neighboring blocks for "intra"coding, rather than the "DC"-only prediction found in MPEG-2 Part 2 and the transform coefficient prediction found in H.263v2 and MPEG-4 Part 2. Intra-frame coding is used in video coding (compression It is part of Group of pictures with Inter frames The term intra frame coding refers to the fact that MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" H263 is a Video codec standard originally designed as a low-bitrate compressed format for Videoconferencing. This includes luma prediction block sizes of 16×16, 8×8, and 4×4 (of which only one type can be used within each macroblock). Macroblock is a term used in Video compression, which represents a block of 16 by 16 Pixels.
• Lossless macroblock coding features including:
  • A lossless PCM macroblock representation mode in which video data samples are represented directly, allowing perfect representation of specific regions and allowing a strict limit to be placed on the quantity of coded data for each macroblock. Lossless data compression is a class of Data compression Algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data
  • An enhanced lossless macroblock representation mode allowing perfect representation of specific regions while ordinarily using substantially fewer bits than the PCM mode.
• Flexible interlaced-scan video coding features, including:
  • Macroblock-adaptive frame-field (MBAFF) coding, using a macroblock pair structure for pictures coded as frames, allowing 16×16 macroblocks in field mode (compared with 16×8 half-macroblocks in MPEG-2). For the method of incrementally displaying Raster graphics, see Interlace (bitmaps.
  • Picture-adaptive frame-field coding (PAFF or PicAFF) allowing a freely-selected mixture of pictures coded as MBAFF frames with pictures coded as individual single fields (half frames) of interlaced video.
• New transform design features, including:
  • An exact-match integer 4×4 spatial block transform, allowing precise placement of residual signals with little of the "ringing" often found with prior codec designs. In Video compression Algorithms a residual frame is formed by subtracting the reference frame from the desired frame. This is conceptually similar to the well-known DCT design, but simplified and made to provide exactly-specified decoding. A discrete cosine transform ( DCT) expresses a sequence of finitely many data points in terms of a sum of Cosine functions oscillating at different frequencies
  • An exact-match integer 8×8 spatial block transform, allowing highly correlated regions to be compressed more efficiently than with the 4×4 transform. This is conceptually similar to the well-known DCT design, but simplified and made to provide exactly-specified decoding. A discrete cosine transform ( DCT) expresses a sequence of finitely many data points in terms of a sum of Cosine functions oscillating at different frequencies
  • Adaptive encoder selection between the 4×4 and 8×8 transform block sizes for the integer transform operation.
  • A secondary Hadamard transform performed on "DC" coefficients of the primary spatial transform applied to chroma DC coefficients (and also luma in one special case) to obtain even more compression in smooth regions. The Hadamard transform (also known as the Walsh-Hadamard transform, Hadamard-Rademacher-Walsh transform, Walsh transform, or Walsh-Fourier transform As applied to video signals luma represents the brightness in an image (the "black and white" or achromatic portion of the image
• A quantization design including:
  • Logarithmic step size control for easier bit rate management by encoders and simplified inverse-quantization scaling.
  • Frequency-customized quantization scaling matrices selected by the encoder for perceptual-based quantization optimization.
• An in-loop deblocking filter which helps prevent the blocking artifacts common to other DCT-based image compression techniques. A deblocking filter is applied to blocks in decoded video to improve visual quality and prediction performance by smoothing the sharp edges which can form between blocks when block A discrete cosine transform ( DCT) expresses a sequence of finitely many data points in terms of a sum of Cosine functions oscillating at different frequencies
• An entropy coding design including:
  • Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), an algorithm to losslessly compress syntax elements in the video stream knowing the probabilities of syntax elements in a given context. In Information theory an entropy encoding is a lossless Data compression scheme that is independent of the specific characteristics of the medium Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC is a form of Entropy coding used in H CABAC compresses data more efficiently than CAVLC but requires considerably more processing to decode.
  • Context-adaptive variable-length coding (CAVLC), which is a lower-complexity alternative to CABAC for the coding of quantized transform coefficient values. Context-adaptive variable-length coding (CAVLC is a form of Entropy coding used in H Although lower complexity than CABAC, CAVLC is more elaborate and more efficient than the methods typically used to code coefficients in other prior designs.
  • A common simple and highly structured variable length coding (VLC) technique for many of the syntax elements not coded by CABAC or CAVLC, referred to as Exponential-Golomb coding (or Exp-Golomb). In Coding theory a variable-length code is a Code which maps source symbols to a variable number of bits An Exponential-Golomb code (or just Exp-Golomb code) of order k is a type of universal code, parameterized by a Whole number k
• Loss resilience features including:
  • A network abstraction layer (NAL) definition allowing the same video syntax to be used in many network environments, including features such as sequence parameter sets (SPSs) and picture parameter sets (PPSs) that provide more robustness and flexibility than provided in prior designs.
  • Flexible macroblock ordering (FMO), also known as slice groups, and arbitrary slice ordering (ASO), which are techniques for restructuring the ordering of the representation of the fundamental regions (macroblocks) in pictures. H264/MPEG-4 AVC is a new standard for digital Video compression jointly developed by ITU-T’s Video Coding Experts Group ( VCEG) and ISO/IEC’s Moving Picture Experts Typically considered an error/loss robustness feature, FMO and ASO can also be used for other purposes.
  • Data partitioning (DP), a feature providing the ability to separate more important and less important syntax elements into different packets of data, enabling the application of unequal error protection (UEP) and other types of improvement of error/loss robustness.
  • Redundant slices (RS), an error/loss robustness feature allowing an encoder to send an extra representation of a picture region (typically at lower fidelity) that can be used if the primary representation is corrupted or lost.
  • Frame numbering, a feature that allows the creation of "sub-sequences", enabling temporal scalability by optional inclusion of extra pictures between other pictures, and the detection and concealment of losses of entire pictures, which can occur due to network packet losses or channel errors.
• Switching slices, called SP and SI slices, allowing an encoder to direct a decoder to jump into an ongoing video stream for such purposes as video streaming bit rate switching and "trick mode" operation. When a decoder jumps into the middle of a video stream using the SP/SI feature, it can get an exact match to the decoded pictures at that location in the video stream despite using different pictures, or no pictures at all, as references prior to the switch.
• A simple automatic process for preventing the accidental emulation of start codes, which are special sequences of bits in the coded data that allow random access into the bitstream and recovery of byte alignment in systems that can lose byte synchronization. In computing a syncword is used to synchronize data For example an audio receiver is receiving a bit stream of data
• Supplemental enhancement information (SEI) and video usability information (VUI), which are extra information that can be inserted into the bitstream to enhance the use of the video for a wide variety of purposes.
• Auxiliary pictures, which can be used for such purposes as alpha compositing. In Computer graphics, alpha compositing is the process of combining an image with a background to create the appearance of partial transparency
• Support of monochrome, 4:2:0, 4:2:2, and 4:4:4 chroma subsampling (depending on the selected profile). Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information
• Support of sample bit depth precision ranging from 8 to 14 bits per sample (depending on the selected profile).
• The ability to encode individual color planes as distinct pictures with their own slice structures, macroblock modes, motion vectors, etc. , allowing encoders to be designed with a simple parallelization structure (supported only in the three 4:4:4-capable profiles).
• Picture order count, a feature that serves to keep the ordering of the pictures and the values of samples in the decoded pictures isolated from timing information, allowing timing information to be carried and controlled/changed separately by a system without affecting decoded picture content.

These techniques, along with several others, help H. 264 to perform significantly better than any prior standard under a wide variety of circumstances in a wide variety of application environments. H. 264 can often perform radically better than MPEG-2 video—typically obtaining the same quality at half of the bit rate or less, especially on high bit rate and high resolution situations. MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" ^[2]

Like other ISO/IEC MPEG video standards, H. 264/AVC has a reference software implementation that can be freely downloaded^[3]. Its main purpose is to give examples of H. 264/AVC features, rather than being a useful application per se. Some reference hardware design work is also under way in the Moving Picture Experts Group. The Moving Picture Experts Group, commonly referred to as simply MPEG, is a Working group of ISO / IEC charged with the development of video and The above mentioned are complete features of H. 264/AVC covering all profiles of H. 264. A profile for a codec is a set of features of that codec identified to meet certain set of specifications of intended applications. This means that many of the features listed are not supported in some profiles. Various profiles of H. 264/AVC are discussed in next section.

Profiles

The standard includes the following seven sets of capabilities, which are referred to as profiles, targeting specific classes of applications:

• Baseline Profile (BP): Primarily for lower-cost applications with limited computing resources, this profile is used widely in videoconferencing and mobile applications.
• Main Profile (MP): Originally intended as the mainstream consumer profile for broadcast and storage applications, the importance of this profile faded when the High profile was developed for those applications.
• Extended Profile (XP): Intended as the streaming video profile, this profile has relatively high compression capability and some extra tricks for robustness to data losses and server stream switching.
• High Profile (HiP): The primary profile for broadcast and disc storage applications, particularly for high-definition television applications (this is the profile adopted into HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, for example). not insert the publicly disclosed HD DVD key into this article for the time being
• High 10 Profile (Hi10P): Going beyond today's mainstream consumer product capabilities, this profile builds on top of the High Profile—adding support for up to 10 bits per sample of decoded picture precision.
• High 4:2:2 Profile (Hi422P): Primarily targeting professional applications that use interlaced video, this profile builds on top of the High 10 Profile—adding support for the 4:2:2 chroma subsampling format while using up to 10 bits per sample of decoded picture precision. Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma Information than for luma information
• High 4:4:4 Predictive Profile (Hi444PP): This profile builds on top of the High 4:2:2 Profile—supporting up to 4:4:4 chroma sampling, up to 14 bits per sample, and additionally supporting efficient lossless region coding and the coding of each picture as three separate color planes.

In addition, the standard contains four additional all-Intra profiles, which are defined as simple subsets of other corresponding profiles. These are mostly for professional (e. g. , camera and editing system) applications:

• High 10 Intra Profile: The High 10 Profile constrained to all-Intra use.
• High 4:2:2 Intra Profile: The High 4:2:2 Profile constrained to all-Intra use.
• High 4:4:4 Intra Profile: The High 4:4:4 Profile constrained to all-Intra use.
• CAVLC 4:4:4 Intra Profile: The High 4:4:4 Profile constrained to all-Intra use and to CAVLC entropy coding (i. e. , not supporting CABAC).

As a result of the Scalable Video Coding extension, the standard contains three additional scalable profiles, which are defined as a combination of the H. Scalable Video Coding ( SVC) is the name given to an extension of the H 264/AVC profile for the base layer (2nd word in scalable profile name) and tools that achieve the scalable extension:

• Scalable Baseline Profile: Primarily targeting video conferencing, mobile, and surveillance applications, this profile builds on top of a constrained version of the H. 264/AVC Baseline profile to which the base layer (a subset of the bitstream) must conform. For the scalability tools, a subset of the available tools is enabled.
• Scalable High Profile: Primarily targeting broadcast and streaming applications, this profile builds on top of the H. 264/AVC High Profile to which the base layer must conform.
• Scalable High Intra Profile: Primarily targeting production applications, this profile is the Scalable High Profile constrained to all-Intra use.

Levels

Standardization committee and history

In early 1998 the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG – ITU-T SG16 Q. The Video Coding Experts Group or VCEG is the informal name of Question 6 (Video coding of Working Party 3 (Media coding of Study Group 16 (Multimedia terminals systems 6) issued a call for proposals on a project called H.26L, with the target to double the coding efficiency (which means halving the bit rate necessary for a given level of fidelity) in comparison to any other existing video coding standards for a broad variety of applications. H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) VCEG was chaired by Gary Sullivan (Microsoft [formerly PictureTel], USA). The Video Coding Experts Group or VCEG is the informal name of Question 6 (Video coding of Working Party 3 (Media coding of Study Group 16 (Multimedia terminals systems Gary J Sullivan is an American Electrical Engineer who led the development of the H Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer The first draft design for that new standard was adopted in August 1999. In 2000, Thomas Wiegand (Heinrich Hertz Institute, Germany) became VCEG co-chair. Thomas Wiegand (born 6 May 1970 in Wismar) is a German Electrical Engineer who actively participated in the creation of The Video Coding Experts Group or VCEG is the informal name of Question 6 (Video coding of Working Party 3 (Media coding of Study Group 16 (Multimedia terminals systems In December of 2001, VCEG and the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG – ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11) formed a Joint Video Team (JVT), with the charter to finalize the video coding standard. The Video Coding Experts Group or VCEG is the informal name of Question 6 (Video coding of Working Party 3 (Media coding of Study Group 16 (Multimedia terminals systems The Moving Picture Experts Group, commonly referred to as simply MPEG, is a Working group of ISO / IEC charged with the development of video and H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) Formal approval of the specification came in March 2003. The JVT was (is) chaired by Gary Sullivan, Thomas Wiegand, and Ajay Luthra (Motorola, USA). H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) Gary J Sullivan is an American Electrical Engineer who led the development of the H Thomas Wiegand (born 6 May 1970 in Wismar) is a German Electrical Engineer who actively participated in the creation of In June 2004, the Fidelity range extensions (FRExt) project was finalized. From January 2005 to November 2007, the JVT was working on an extension of H. H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) 264/AVC towards scalability by an Annex called Scalable Video Coding (SVC). Scalable Video Coding ( SVC) is the name given to an extension of the H The JVT management team was extended by Jens-Reiner Ohm (Aachen University, Germany). H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) Since July 2006, the JVT works on an extension of H. H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) 264/AVC towards multi-view video coding (MVC). Free viewpoint television (FTV is a system for viewing natural video allowing the user to interactively control the viewpoint and generate new views of a dynamic scene from any 3D position

Versions

Versions of the H. 264/AVC standard include the following completed revisions, corrigenda, and amendments (dates are final approval dates in ITU-T, while final "International Standard" approval dates in ISO/IEC are somewhat different and slightly later in most cases). Each version represents changes relative to the next lower version that is integrated into the text. Bold faced versions are published (or planned to be published).

• 1. Version (May 2003) First approved version of H. 264/AVC containing Baseline, Extended, and Main profiles.
• 2. Version (May 2004) Corrigendum containing various minor corrections. Erratum or corrigendum (plurals errata, corrigenda) is a correction of a book
• 3. Version (March 2005) Major addition to H. 264/AVC containing the first Amendment providing Fidelity Range Extensions (FRExt) containing High, High 10, High 4:2:2, and High 4:4:4 profiles.
• 4. Version (September 2005) Corrigendum containing various minor corrections and adding three aspect ratio indicators. Erratum or corrigendum (plurals errata, corrigenda) is a correction of a book
• 5. Version (June 2006) Amendment consisting of removal of prior High 4:4:4 profile (processed as a corrigendum in ISO/IEC)
• 6. Version (June 2006) Amendment consisting of minor extensions like extended-gamut color space support (bundled with above-mentioned aspect ratio indicators in ISO/IEC).
• 7. Version (April 2007) Amendment containing the addition of High 4:4:4 Predictive and four Intra-only profiles (High 10 Intra, High 4:2:2 Intra, High 4:4:4 Intra, and CAVLC 4:4:4 Intra).
• 8. Version (November 2007) Major addition to H. 264/AVC containing the Amendment for Scalable Video Coding (SVC) containing Scalable Baseline, Scalable High, and Scalable High Intra profiles. Scalable Video Coding ( SVC) is the name given to an extension of the H

Planned additions:

• Corrigendum containing various minor corrections – not yet completed. Erratum or corrigendum (plurals errata, corrigenda) is a correction of a book
• Multi-view coding (MVC) – not yet completed.

Patent licensing

In countries where software patent regulations are upheld, the vendors of products which make use of H. Software patent does not have a universally accepted definition 264/AVC are expected to pay patent licensing royalties for the patented technology that their products use. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an A private organization known as MPEG LA, which is not affiliated in any way with the MPEG standardization organization, administers the licenses for patents applying to this standard, as well as the patent pools for MPEG-2 Part 1 Systems, MPEG-2 Part 2 Video, MPEG-4 Part 2 Video, and other technologies. MPEG LA LLC, is a firm which licenses Patent pools required for use of the MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Visual (Part 2 IEEE 1394, VC-1 In Patent law, a patent pool is a Consortium of at least two Companies agreeing to cross-license patents relating to a particular Technology

In January 2007, a U. S. District court jury gave an advisory opinion that one patent owned by Qualcomm should be invalidated. ^[4] Qualcomm had claimed that the patent had been incorporated in H. 264 in violation of its patent. ^[5][6] The U. S. District Court judge has yet to rule on the verdict. ^[7]

Patents and GNU Free Software licenses

Discussions are often held regarding the legality of free software implementations of codecs like H. Free software or software libre is Software that can be used studied and modified without restriction and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified 264, especially concerning the legal use of GNU LGPL and GPL implementations of H. The GNU Lesser General Public License (formerly the GNU Library General Public License) or LGPL is a Free software license published by the Free Software 264 and other patented codecs. Consensus in discussions is that the allowable use depends on the laws of local jurisdictions. If operating or shipping a product in a country or group of countries where none of the patents covering H. 264 apply, then using, for example, an LGPL implementation of the codec is not a problem: There is no conflict between the software license and the (non-existent) patent license.

Conversely, shipping (not necessarily implementing) a product in the U. S. which includes an LGPL H. 264 decoder/encoder would be in violation of the software license of the codec implementation. In simple terms, the LGPL and GPL licenses require that any rights held in conjunction with distributing the code also apply to anyone receiving the code, and no further restrictions are put on distribution or use. If there is a requirement for a patent license to be sought, this is a clear violation of both the GPL and LGPL terms. Thus, the right to distribute patent-encumbered code under those licenses as part of the product is revoked per the terms of the GPL and LGPL. However, if the initial implementor of the code did not hold the appropriate rights to build and distribute the code, the legal situation becomes less clear, and it is likely that all users of the implementation, whether LGPL or not, would be in breach of the relevant patents.

There have been no known court cases testing this legal interpretation to be correct; however, its interpretation fits best with statements regarding the topic made by the Free Software Foundation on this patent rights issue, in cases likely to use an expert/authoritative source on interpretation of the GPL and LGPL in a possible lawsuit. The Free Software Foundation ( FSF) is a Non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the Free software movement

Applications

H. 264/AVC experienced widespread adoption within a few years of the completion of the standard. It is employed widely in applications ranging from television broadcast to video for mobile devices. In order to ensure compatibility and problem-free adoption of H. 264/AVC, many standards bodies have amended or added to video standards so that users of these standards can employ H. 264/AVC.

Both of the major candidate next-generation optical video disc rival formats deployed in 2006 include the H. 264/AVC High Profile as a mandatory player feature—specifically:

• The Blu-ray Disc format of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA)
• The HD DVD format of the DVD Forum

The Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) standards body in Europe approved the use of H. not insert the publicly disclosed HD DVD key into this article for the time being For the chemical compound see Divinylbenzene. Digital Video Broadcasting ( DVB) is a suite of internationally accepted 264/AVC for broadcast television in Europe in late 2004. The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards body in the United States is considering the possibility of specifying one or two advanced video codecs for its optional Enhanced-VSB (E-VSB) transmission mode for use in U. The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC is the group established in 1982 that developed the eponymous ATSC Standards for Digital television in the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the E-VSB or Enhanced VSB is an optional enhancement to the original ATSC Standards that use the 8VSB Modulation system used for transmission S. broadcast television. It has included H. 264/AVC and VC-1 into Candidate Standards as CS/TSG-659r2^[8] and CS/TSG-658r1^[9] respectively for this purpose. VC-1 is the informal name of the SMPTE 421M Video codec standard initially developed by Microsoft. The status of terrestrial broadcast adoption in some specific countries is as follows:

• In Catalonia, Spain, TV3 is broadcasting a HDTV trial channel in DVB-T. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. TV3 is the name of Catalonia 's first public television channel. Video is encoded in H. 264 with PAFF interlacing.
• The prime minister of France announced the selection of H. The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. 264/AVC as a requirement for receivers of HDTV and pay TV channels for digital terrestrial broadcast television services (referred to as "TNT") in France in late 2004. High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition
• The terrestrial broadcast systems in Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia are expected to use H. Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west 264/AVC for all digital television services.
• The Brazilian terrestrial broadcast service uses H. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld 264/AVC in ISDB-T. Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB is a Japanese standard for Digital television (DTV and Digital radio used by the country's radio
• It is used for DVB-T transmission in Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Norway and other countries launching DVB-T broadcasting after 2006.
• In Poland test DVB-T transmissions (as of 2007 working reliably for several years) use MPEG-2, but commercial run scheduled after 2010 will be MPEG4-only. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
• The Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) service in the Republic of Korea will use H. Digital Multimedia Broadcasting ( DMB) is a Digital Radio transmission system for sending Multimedia ( Radio, TV South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː 264/AVC.
• Mobile-segment terrestrial broadcast services of ISDB-T in Japan will use the H. Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB is a Japanese standard for Digital television (DTV and Digital radio used by the country's radio For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. 264/AVC codec, including major broadcasters such as NHK and Fuji Television. or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, is Japan 's Public broadcaster. is a Japanese Television station based in Daiba, Minato Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX.
• Norwegian NTV will use H. 264/AVC for its national DVB-T broadcasting starting October 2007 in central southern areas of Norway. Norway will be among the first to use MPEG-4/AVC exclusively in all its terrestrial television broadcasts, when the analogue transponders are switched off in 2009.
• Hong Kong leading broadcaster,TVB, selected H. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Television Broadcasts Limited ( commonly known as TVB, was the first over-the-air commercial Television station in Hong Kong. 264 in for new digital services there, including HDTV service, in the China DMB-T/H system environment, starting from the end of 2007. DMB-T/H or DTMB ( GB 20600-2006 is the Digital terrestrial television standard applied in the People's Republic of China (PRC including ^[10] ATV has joined this decision and uses H. 264 for its new digital services too (both broadcasters use MPEG-2 to encode the digital simulcast of the existing analogue channels. MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" )
• New Zealand's Freeview service launched its DVB-T transmissions in March 2008 using H. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Freeview is a Non-profit organization providing Free-to-air Digital television and Digital radio to New Zealand. 264/AVC.

Direct broadcast satellite TV services will use the new standard, including:

• BBC HD uses H. Direct broadcast satellite (DBS is a term used to refer to Satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception also referred to more broadly as direct-to-home BBC HD is a High-definition television channel provided by the BBC. 264 for both its satellite (DVB-S) service on Astra 2D and its London terrestrial (DVB-T) trial service
• DirecTV (in the United States)
• Dish Network (in the United States)
• Euro1080 (in Europe)
• HD5 (MediaCorp TV in Singapore)
• Premiere (pay television network) (in Germany)
• ProSieben HD & Sat.1 HD (in Germany, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG^[11])
• Sky HD (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) – the company's standard definition service continues to use MPEG-2
• Sky Italia (in Italy)
• SVT HD (Sveriges Television in Sweden)

H. DVB-S is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and modulation standard for Satellite television and dates from 1995 See Also Astra 2A co-located satellite Astra 2B co-located satellite Astra 2C co-located satellite DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of DirecTV (trademarked as "DIREC' TV' " is a Direct broadcast satellite (DBS service based in El Segundo California, USA, that was founded The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Not be confused with Indian Service Dish TV DISH Network is a Direct broadcast satellite (DBS service that provides Satellite television The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Euro1080 was the first commercial broadcaster in Europe to air full-time HDTV content it was founded by Gabriel Fehervari MediaCorp ( is a state-owned group of commercial media companies in Singapore specialising primarily in Television and Radio Broadcasting Singapore Premiere is the first German Pay-TV company offering several channels of digital content via satellite and cable. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. ProSieben is a commercial Television station in Germany distributed to a large extent via cable and satellite along with DVB-T Sat1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. ProSiebenSat1 Media AG is a European Media conglomerate, operating commercial television premium pay channels radio stations and related print businesses The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting 's digital Satellite television service transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28 MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information" SKY Italia is an Italian digital Satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched the 31 july 2003 Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest SVT HD is a high-definition Television channel from Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT Sveriges Television AB ( SVT,) is a national Television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by an obligatory fee payable by all Television -owners "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. 264 is used in a number of IPTV services. IPTV ( Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a Digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure which In particular, including:

• Australian ISP TPG Internet is broadcasting in H. Total Peripherals Group (commonly known as TPG is an Australian ISP and IT company 264 for its IPTV service. IPTV ( Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a Digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure which
• Canadian Telco Bell Aliant as of April 10th 2008 is now broadcasting in H. Bell Aliant Regional Communications is a communications company providing services primarily in rural areas throughout eastern 264 for its IPTV service. IPTV ( Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a Digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure which

USDTV (now bankrupt) had announced plans to use H. USDTV was an Over-the-air, Pay television service in the United States. 264 for its pay-for-premium ATSC channels, which could only be decrypted by USDTV's set top boxes.

Inuk Networks the largest IPTV provider in the UK broadcasts in H. 264.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has approved the inclusion of H. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project ( 3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations to make a globally applicable third generation ( 3G 264/AVC as an optional feature in release 6 of its mobile multimedia telephony services specifications.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Motion Imagery Standards Board (MISB) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) have adopted H. The North Atlantic Treaty The United States Department of Defense ( DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government 264/AVC as their preferred video codec for a broad variety of military applications.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has completed a payload packetization format (RFC 3984) for carrying H. 264/AVC video using its Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). The Real-time Transport Protocol (or RTP) defines a standardized packet format for delivering audio and video over the Internet

The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) has adopted H. The Internet Streaming Media Alliance ( ISMA) was Founded in December 2000 by Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, IBM, Kasenna, Philips 264/AVC for its new ISMA 2. 0 specifications.

Based on ITU-T H. 32x standards, H. 264/AVC is widely used for videoconferencing. Essentially all new videoconferencing products now support it.

The International Telecommunications Union-Radiocom. Sector (ITU-R) has adopted H. The ITU Radiocommunication Sector ( ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU and is responsible for 264/AVC in

• ITU-R BT. 1687 "Video bit-rate reduction for real-time distribution of large-screen digital imagery applications for presentation in a theatrical environment" and
• ITU-R BT. 1737 "Use of the ITU-T Recommendation H. 264 (MPEG-4/AVC) video source-coding method to transport high definition TV programme material" for HDTV contribution, distribution, and satellite news gathering.

In October 2005, Apple Inc began selling H. Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics 264-encoded videos over the Internet through their iTunes Music Store. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks The iTunes Store is a software-based online Digital media store operated by Apple Inc ^[12] Initially selling just television series and music videos, they expanded in September 2006 to sell films. On May 30, 2007 Apple announced plans to integrate streaming of YouTube videos into the Apple TV. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In a later interview, Apple VP David Moody revealed that all of YouTube's videos are going to be transcoded to H. 264 for higher compatibility and quality on the Apple TV. Starting in June, 2007, YouTube will be automatically encoding all new uploads with H. 264. Their intention is to have the entire video catalog available in H. 264 by autumn 2007. Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch support H. The iPhone is an internet-connected Multimedia Smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc The iPod Touch (trademarked and marketed as the iPod touch and sometimes colloquially referred to as the iTouch) is a Portable media player and 264 Baseline Profile, Levels 2. 1 and 3, at resolutions up to 480x320 or 640x480 and bitrates up to 1. 5 Mbit/s and is capable of playing the YouTube video content. ^[13]

Adobe supports H. 264 in its Flash Player ^[14].

AVCHD is a high-definition recording format designed by Sony and Panasonic that uses H. AVCHD ( Advanced Video Codec High Definition) is a high-definition and Standard-definition recording format for use in digital Tapeless camcorders is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest Media conglomerates with 264 (conforming to H. 264 while adding additional application-specific features and constraints).

AVC-Intra is an intraframe compression only format, developed by Panasonic

Software encoder feature comparison

See also

• Codec
• Comparison of H.264 and VC-1
• H.263
• H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Products and Implementations
• IPTV
• ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)
• ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG)
• List of devices that support H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
• MPEG-2
• MPEG-4
• x264 – Software encoder

References

External links

Introduction

• IEEE Overview of the H.264/AVC Video Coding Standard
• Overview and Introduction to the Fidelity Range Extensions
• Vcodex: H.264 Tutorials. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English
• MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Information - Doom9's Forum. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English

The standard

• ITU-T publication page: H.264: Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September
• ISO publication page: ISO/IEC 14496-10:2005 – Information technology – Coding of audio-visual objects – Part 10: Advanced Video Coding. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September

Reference encoder/decoder

• IP Homepage - H.264/AVC JM Reference Software. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English

Standardization committee documents

• JVT document archive site. Retrieved on 2007-05-06. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.

HD content

• Apple - QuickTime - HD Gallery (R). Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English
• Apple - Movie Trailers. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English
• Wuapi.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the

Miscellaneous

• Publications - Thomas Wiegand. Retrieved on 2007-06-23. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish
• Publications - Detlev Marpe. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English
• Fourth Annual H.264 video codecs comparison.
• Comparison between CoreAVC and FFmpeg.