V-Nova has announced completion of the MPEG-5 Part 2 Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding (LCEVC) standard, which enhances the compression efficiency of any future or existing video compression scheme, including AVC, HEVC, AV1, EVC and VVC.
   

MPEG-5 Part 2 LCEVC, which was promoted to an MPEG/ISO final draft, offers improved picture quality at up to 40% lower bitrates for live and VOD delivery. It also provides a 2x to 4x improvement in encoding computational efficiency, the company said.

LCEVC enables greener and more cost-effective video delivery workflows while maintaining compatibility with the device ecosystem of the enhanced codec. Services can use it to improve the quality-of-experience (QoE) of viewers without having to duplicate workflows or wait for device replacement cycles, it said.

V-Nova co-chaired development of MPEG-5 LCEVC and the technology foundation upon which it is built.

“We are extremely proud to have contributed to this innovative standard, as part of such a successful collaboration with industry leaders,” said Guido Meardi, CEO and co-founder of V-Nova. “LCEVC is poised to immediately deliver a step-change in usage and profitability to a host of existing services. The standard has broad applicability, we are already seeing great traction and are committed to ensuring rapid adoption.”

For global broadcasting services, LCEVC will enable a speedy, seamless and cost-effective upgrade to higher picture quality across all devices regardless of bandwidth, the company said.

When serving millions of concurrent streams to a variety of devices, such as live sports delivery, LCEVC will provide greater reliability, reducing buffering events and increasing quality. It also helps to minimize latency, the company said.

Social media and esports platforms, along with other hyper-scale operators, are looking at LCEVC as a key tool to drive enhanced user experiences through higher-quality and faster stream start-up while also reducing per user costs. LCEVC also is enabling advances in video conferencing, said V-Nova.