Samsung backs MPEG-5 EVC codec for efficient 4K, 8K video playback

Apart from the AV1 codec, Samsung will also support the newly-released MPEG-5 EVC video codec on its devices. The new video codec is designed to meet the business and technical needs of the media and consumer electronics industry. To improve the adoption of MPEG-5 in the industry, Samsung will work with Huawei and Qualcomm to promote it.

The MPEG-5 Essential Video Codec (EVC) delivers 4K, 8K, AR/VR, and HDR videos with greater compression and efficiency when compared to the previous-generation standards such as MPEG-4. The codec was officially released by the end of April 2020, and it is being touted as a great solution for delivering video streams over emerging data protocols and networks such as 5G.

The new codec consists of a royalty-free subset and individually switchable enhancements. Huawei, Qualcomm, and Samsung have reaffirmed that they will offer fair, non-discriminatory, and reasonable terms for their essential patent claims covering the new standard. The companies will announce their respective licensing terms for the MPEG-5 EVC standard by April 2022.

Over the next few years, we can expect the MPEG-5 video codec to be integrated into future smartphones, TVs, media players, home theatre systems, and tablets, among other devices.