With the introduction of super sharp 4K displays, it was a matter of time before a new video format is introduced. Late last week the International Telecommunications Union has approved the new H.265 video format, which halves the standard bitrate of the old H.264 video format. This new format, officially known as the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), appears to be the first steps towards delivering high definition content streaming even on connections with low bandwidth.

The lower bitrate of H.265 playback is mainly due to better compression techniques, which provides a two-prong benefit. For one thing, areas with slower broadband connections will be able to enjoy better quality video streaming. On the other hand, the new format also allows for users with faster connections to stream videos with higher resolutions, with 4K being the current goal.

Unfortunately, just as 4K resolution is only slowly gaining traction, the H.265 video format will only see mass adoption when it is eventually embedded into hardware and system-on-a-chip (SoC), which TechCrunch believes will take anywhere between 12-18 months – or even longer.

(Source: TechCrunch)