HEVC Upcoming potential issues?

[js28194 42]

Hello all,

I'll be honest, not sure where this belongs nor if this will be / become an issue moving forward.  Please read and make your own determination.  I won't pretend I understand it all myself as I have never ran into this issue.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/lawsuits-licensing-and-royalties-are-complicating-4k-video-support-in-gadgets/

 

Best,

[visproduction 341]

JS,

Thanks. Interesting to see that German courts upheld the patent and forced hardware companies to remove HEVC h.265 codec support from notebook computers.  I'm not surprised.  This HEVC licensing issue has been ongoing since 2015.

This online calculator is of interest to see how much more demand h.265 codec compression is compared to other video codecs. 
Bitrate Calculator for minimum bitrate for acceptable playback:
https://bitratecalculator.org/calculators/

It's interesting to notice that the older h.264 codec does not have the same licensing issue and uses far less CPU demand for transcoding and for playback.  This older codec is used online for many sites, but cannot nicely do 4K.  I've tested h.264 to work on 4K. The file size grows too large and artifacts are difficult to eliminate.  I pesonally do not use HEVC h.265 video, nor 4K at all, and pre-transcode to make all my 1080P and smaller videos using high quality, slow software encode settings for h.264 video (usually inside a .mp4 container).  I do not transcode in real time.  Most Emby users do not use h.264 video, because storage for each quality h.264 is around 30% to 100% larger than a similar looking, smaller file video using h.265.  But, I personally like the h.264 look better, with softer, more natural edges. h.264 video with AAC audio is playable for all browsers, mobile, TV apps, where as h.265 and many audio codecs, usually need to be transcoded to playback for everyone. 

Edited 2 hours ago by visproduction