HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding, H.265) succeeds H.264 with roughly 40-50% better compression at the same quality, which makes it the default for bandwidth-heavy formats like 4K and HDR. It has broad hardware decode support on modern phones, TVs, and set-top boxes, especially in the living room.
Its adoption was slowed by a fragmented, expensive patent-licensing landscape (multiple pools), which is precisely what motivated the royalty-free AV1. In practice HEVC is the workhorse for premium UHD/HDR delivery to capable devices, while H.264 covers the long tail and AV1 is added where it is supported.
The handbook · 7 volumes
Fora Soft Video Engineering Handbook
HEVC saves roughly 40-50% of bitrate over H.264 at the same quality, but licensing and browser support decide where you can use it. We wrote seven volumes covering the video stack; for HEVC start with Volume 1 on HEVC encoding, rate control, and quality metrics, then Volume 2 on CMAF packaging, with device playback in Volume 3. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
Adding HEVC for 4K and HDR and unsure which devices will play it?
We will review your device analytics and ladder and send an HEVC rollout plan with the expected bitrate saving. 250+ video products shipped since 2005.
