The next book : Coding Video

My next book on video compression, with a working title "Coding Video", is due to be published in late 2014. I'll be posting news and updates here, plus you can give my author page on Facebook a "Like" to keep up with the latest developments:

Click here to Like on Facebook

Tech talks on video compression

I enjoyed giving two invited talks on video compression in Washington DC last week. The first was for patent examiners at the US Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) and the second was for patent attorneys and associates at Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox.

Many thanks to both organisations for making me feel so welcome.

If you'd like to book me for a specialist talk on video coding, HEVC or related topics, please get in touch and I'll do my best to accommodate you.

- Iain Richardson

HEVC Tutorial and Video Walkthrough

I've posted the first in a series of tutorials and resources for the new HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) standard.

1. An introduction to High Efficiency Video Coding (summary version)

2. An introduction to High Efficiency Video Coding (full version): coming soon

3. HEVC walkthrough: taking you through some of the features of HEVC using the Elecard HEVCAnalyzer (Vimeo).

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Walkthrough by Vcodex from vcodex on Vimeo.

Comments and feedback are always welcome.

- Iain

Visiting Washington DC in May...

I'll be visiting Washington DC from 20-24 May 2013. If you're based in the area and are interested in meeting up to talk about video compression, HEVC, intellectual property or anything else, please drop me a note.

- Iain Richardson, iain@vcodex.com

Comparing HEVC and H.264 quality: see for yourself

HEVC playback / H.265 playback

Now that the GPAC / Osmo4 player supports HEVC decoding and playback, it's becoming easier to compare the quality of the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard with its predecessor, H.264/AVC. I've uploaded three versions of the same sequence:

a. Encoded using HEVC / HM10

b. Encoded using H.264 / x264 at twice the bitrate of a.

c. Encoded using H.264 / x264 at the same bitrate as a.

To compare H.264 and HEVC / H.265:

1. Download and install the latest version of GPAC, which includes the Osmo4 player:

http://gpac.wp.mines-telecom.fr/downloads/gpac-nightly-builds/
(Choose Latest Available Binaries)

2. Download the following test sequences:

a. Kristen and Sara, 720p, 10 seconds, 60 frames per second, HEVC / HM10 Anchor (Random Access, QP=32), approx 420 kbps.

https://www.box.com/s/hrbj7pd2vpdpfynm7xdu

b. Kristen and Sara, H.264 / x264 / veryslow preset, QP=31, approx 810 kbps. https://www.box.com/s/is2sdqh7tqdiuc1i76g6

c. Kristen and Sara, H.264 / x264 / veryslow preset, QP=37, approx 440 kbps.

https://www.box.com/s/3mkoob6sppijp2b1kf3g

3. Play back each test sequence using the Osmo4 player.

Things to look out for:

- At the same bitrate (~420kbps), is the quality of the HEVC sequence (a) significantly better  than the H.264 sequence (c)? In my view, yes.

- At half the bitrate (420kbps vs. 810kbps), is the quality of the HEVC sequence (a) as good as the H.264 sequence (b)? In my view, the HEVC sequence displays smoother motion, but loses some fine detail.

To experiment with other test sequences:

1. Download + install GPAC, as described above:

http://gpac.wp.mines-telecom.fr/downloads/gpac-nightly-builds/
(Choose Latest Available Binaries)

This package includes the Osmo4 player and the MP4Box utility.

2. Download an encoded HEVC anchor bitstream (.bin) from:

ftp://ftp.kw.bbc.co.uk/hevc/hm-10.0-anchors/bitstreams/
(I chose "Kristen and Sara, QP=32" from the Random Access folder for the above examples).

3. Rename the downloaded bitstream: from (name).bin to (name).265

4. Package as an .mp4 file. Open a command prompt and type:

mp4box -fps (fps) -add (name.265) (name).mp4

- where (name.265) is the renamed bitstream file and (fps) is the number of frames per second of the original sequence.

(Here's an example of the command line for the Mac, your path may be different: /Applications/Osmo4.app/Contents/MacOS/MP4Box -fps 24 -add Kimono1_qp32.265 Kimono1_qp32.mp4)

5. Open with Osmo4 and play back.

Notes

Windows: Playback of 720p HEVC sequences is a little jerky but works reasonably well. Playback of higher-resolution sequences is very jerky on my PC.
Mac : Playback of 720p and 1080p HEVC clips on my Mac (10.8.3, 2.9GHz) is reasonably smooth.

Quality is subjective

Video quality is, of course, highly subjective. I'm interested in your feedback. Do you think the 420kbps HEVC sequence (a) is as good as, or better than, the 810kbps H.264 sequence (b)?

- Iain Richardson

Busy day in Washington DC yesterday...

Giving evidence at the US International Trade Commission in the morning and visiting the US Patent and Trademark Office in the afternoon. Very impressed by the USPTO - over 10000 patent examiners and support staff, in a campus that's bigger than many Universities, dealing with thousands of applications per month.

- Iain.

Vcodex is recruiting

We're looking for an experienced software developer / consultant to work on video coding software and analysis. If you're interested in challenging work at the forefront of video compression, please get in touch. For more information, please contact Ruth Easton: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rutheaston quoting reference VCODEX01.