MPEG and ITU have recently approved a new video-compression standard known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), or H.265, that is set to provide double the capacity of today's leading standards. Requiring only half the bitrate of its predecessor, the new standard will significantly reduce the need for bandwidth and expensive, limited spectrum. HEVC will enable new video services to be launched, and the first applications that are likely to appear will be for mobile devices and OTT applications, followed by TV - and in particular ultra HD television (UHDTV). State-of-the-art video compression can reduce the size of raw video by a factor of about 100 without any noticeable reduction in visual quality. Estimates indicate that compressed real-time video accounts for more than 50 percent of current network traffic, and this figure is set to rise to 90 percent within a few years. New services, devices and changing viewing patterns are among the factors contributing to this growth, as is increased viewing of traditional TV and video-streaming services, such as Netflix, YouTube and Hulu, on a range of devices - from phones and tablets to PCs and homeentertainment systems. As HD shifts from luxury to commodity, it will soon be challenged by UHD, which offers resolutions up to 16 times greater.
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