Versatile Video Coding (VVC) Arrives

Seven years after the development of the first version of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, the major international organizations in the world of video coding have completed the next major generation, called Versatile Video Coding (VVC). The VVC standard, formally designated as ITU-T H.266 and ISO/IEC 23090-3, promises a major improvement in video compression relative to its predecessors. It can offer roughly double the coding efficiency – i.e., it can be used to encode video content to the same level of visual quality while using about 50% fewer bits than HEVC and thus using about 75% fewer bits than H.264/AVC, today’s most widely used format. Thus it can ease the burden on worldwide networks, where video now comprises about 80% of all internet traffic. Moreover, VVC has enhanced features in its syntax for supporting an unprecedented breadth of applications, giving meaning to the word "versatility" used in its title. Completed in July 2020, VVC has begun to emerge in practical implementations and is undergoing testing to characterize its subjective performance.