What is H.264/MPEG-4 AVC?

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (better known as H.264) represents one of the most prospective video compression standards. The H.264 standard includes a range of standards which are decoded by specific decoder in line with its specification. Due to the motion estimation H.264 provides enhanced compression of high quality and bitrate savings of 50% make HD video more accessible.

What is H.264 designed for?

The initial idea of the H.264/AVC project was to provide good video quality at lower bitrates. Also, it was created in order to be employed in numerous applications including low and high resolution video, broadcast, DVD storage, RTP/IP packet networks, multimedia telephony systems. Recent developments allowed using H.264 in professional applications.

What are H.264 special features?

• Multi-picture inter-picture prediction
• A lossless representation mode
• New transform design
• Flexible interlaced-scan video coding
• Loss resilience

What are H.264 advantages?

• Takes up less capacity when it is stored or transmitted
• Minimises the impact of errors during transmission
• Offers greater flexibility in terms of compression options and transmission support
• Suitable for applications ranging from low-bitrate mobile transmission through high definition consumer TV to high-quality TV production
• Approved for broadcast television
• Has a reference software application that can downloaded for free

Where it can be applied?

H.264 is used in such applications as Blu-ray Disc, DVB broadcast, direct-broadcast satellite TV and cable TV services, real-time videoconferencing. As it is supported by Google / YouTube, Adobe, and Apple iTunes, H.264 tends to be an effective tool for a wide variety of network environments from low-bitrate Internet streaming to Digital Cinema applications with virtually lossless coding.