12 NEWSFEED Updates & Upgrades
NEW VIDEO CODEC H.266 After years of discussion within the
Previously due to coincide with the Olympics, Japanese broadcasting corporation, NHK, has announced it has postponed any decision about how its 8K channel will be structured until after next year’s Olympic Games. Reports in August revealed that NHK has confirmed plans to merge its satellite based BS1, BS Premium and BS4K channels into two channels, and in turn integrate them into one single channel. With an aim to reduce the viewing fees that are levied on the satellite channels, NHK is coming up with an overall viewing fee plan. Currently, there is a fee of ¥2230 (around €18) per month for terrestrial and satellite channels. The fee for ‘terrestrial only’ channels is ¥1260 per month. Critics of the broadcaster have said that it could reduce its current viewing fee revenue of ¥700bn by ¥200bn through cost cuts. DELAYED 8K DECISIONS
can do so. The significance, however, is that the H.266 requires half the bit rate of today’s H.265, making complexities surrounding its development unimportant. Tests have shown that homes will require internet connections capable of more than 85Mbps to stream 8K reliably, which is beyond what most properties have. However, this would drop down to 40-50Mbps if H.266 is implemented successfully. Although the new codec boasts impressive streaming abilities, it may not be universally embraced. Take Google, which has previously opted to use its own format, VP9, instead of the current standard H.265 to encode YouTube videos. Ben Wood from CCS commented: “To be successful, a codec has to get broad adoption from all the key players. And deciding to back one can be somewhat of a religious decision.”
tech industry, a new video-encoding technology has been introduced that claims to cut data by at least half. Intended to allow for those with a slow connection to stream in higher quality, the technology could pave the way for on- demand services to offer 8K content. The codec is called H.266/Versatile Video Coding and was announced by Germany’s Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute. The institute also revealed that big names including Apple, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Intel and Huawei had worked on its development. With an ultimate goal to implement the codec into smartphones and other cameras, the tech should allow said devices to automatically record and playback footage. Sounds simple enough? Not really, as it means that new chips need to be developed before they
feedzinesocial feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook