The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute is a world leader in the development of mobile and fixed broadband communication networks and multimedia systems.
Website | View Online

Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI

Press Release

 
Fraunhofer HHI is proud to present the new state-of-the-art in global video coding: H.266/VVC brings video transmission to new spee

 
 
July 6, 2020
 
 

 
After devoting several years to its research and standardization, Fraunhofer HHI (together with partners from industry including Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Sony) is celebrating the release and official adoption of the new global video coding standard H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC). This new standard offers improved compression, which reduces data requirements by around 50% of the bit rate relative to the previous standard H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) without compromising visual quality. In other words, H.266/VVC offers faster video transmission for equal perceptual quality. Overall, H.266/VVC provides efficient transmission and storage of all video resolutions from SD to HD up to 4K and 8K, while supporting high dynamic range video and omnidirectional 360° video.


 
     
 
 
 
 
Today, compressed video data make up 80% of global Internet traffic. H.266/VVC represents the pinnacle of (at least) four generations of international standards for video coding. The previous standards H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) and H.265/HEVC, which were produced with substantial contributions from Fraunhofer HHI, remain active in more than 10 billion end devices, processing over 90% of the total global volume of video bits. Both previous standards were also recognized by collectively three Emmy Engineering Awards for contributing substantially to the progress of television technology.

Through a reduction of data requirements, H.266/VVC makes video transmission in mobile networks (where data capacity is limited) more efficient. For instance, the previous standard H.265/HEVC requires ca. 10 gigabytes of data to transmit a 90-min UHD video. With this new technology, only 5 gigabytes of data are required to achieve the same quality. Because H.266/VVC was developed with ultra-high-resolution video content in mind, the new standard is particularly beneficial when streaming 4K or 8K videos on a flat screen TV. Furthermore, H.266/VVC is ideal for all types of moving images: from high-resolution 360° video panoramas to screen sharing contents.

“After dedicating almost three years toward this standard, we are proud to have been instrumental in developing H.266/VVC," says Benjamin Bross, head of the Video Coding Systems group at Fraunhofer HHI and editor of the +500-page standard specification of H.266/VVC. “Because of the quantum leap in coding efficiency offered by H.266/VVC, the use of video will increase further worldwide. Moreover, the increased versatility of H.266/VVC makes its use more attractive for a broader range of applications related to the transmission and storage of video.”

"If you consider that Fraunhofer HHI already played a key role in the development of the previous video coding standards H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC, then we are happy with the fact that more than 50% of the bits on the Internet are generated by a Fraunhofer HHI technology,” adds Dr. Detlev Marpe, head of the Video Coding and Analytics department at Fraunhofer HHI.

A uniform and transparent licensing model based on the FRAND principle (i.e., fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) is planned to be established for the use of standard essential patents related to H.266/VVC. For this purpose, the Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) was founded. In addition to Fraunhofer Society, the MC-IF now includes +30 companies and organizations. The new chips required for the use of H.266/VVC, such as those in mobile devices, are currently being designed. Dr. Thomas Schierl, head of the Video Coding and Analytics department at Fraunhofer HHI, announced “this autumn Fraunhofer HHI will publish the first software (for both encoder and decoder) to support H.266/VVC.”


 
     
 
Contact

 
 


 

Martina Müller
Press Officer

Phone +49 30 31002 242


send Email

 
     
 


 

Benjamin Bross
Technical Contact

Phone +49 30 31002 622


send Email

 
     
 


 

Dr. Detlev Marpe
Technical Contact

Phone +49 30 31002 619


send Email

 
     
 
 
© 2025 Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI
Follow us  
 
 
Contact
Publishing Notes
Data Protection Policy
 
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, headquartered in Germany, is the world’s leading applied research organization. With its focus on developing key technologies that are vital for the future and enabling the commercial exploitation of this work by business and industry, Fraunhofer plays a central role in the innovation process. As a pioneer and catalyst for groundbreaking developments and scientific excellence, Fraunhofer helps shape society now and in the future. Founded in 1949, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently operates 74 institutes and research institutions throughout Germany. The majority of the organization’s 28,000 employees are qualified scientists and engineers, who work with an annual research budget of 2.8 billion euros. Of this sum, 2.3 billion euros is generated through contract research.

 
 
Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications,
Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI
Einsteinufer 37 | 10587 Berlin | Germany
Phone: +49 30 31002-0
Fax: +49 30 31002-213

is a constituent entity of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and as such has no separate legal status.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Hansastraße 27 c | 80686 München
www.fraunhofer.de

VAT Identification Number in accordance with
§ 27a | VAT Tax Act: DE 129515865

Court of jurisdiction
Amtsgericht München
Registered nonprofit association
Registration no. VR 4461

 
 
Unsubscribe from our newsletter service.
Unsubscribe

Tell a friend

Unsubscribe from all of our newsletter services:
Please consider, that you will not receive any further mails from any Fraunhofer institution after your unsubscription.
Unsubscribe from all our newsletters
 
 
 
Copyright:
© Foto: Fraunhofer HHI