What is HEVC?

tools of the trade

Oct 5, 2017

Now that HERO6 Black is out in the wild and you have been diving into the specs a bit, you may be asking, "What is this HEVC acronym I keep seeing?" and "Why are some resolution/frame rate combos in HEVC?"

In short, HEVC stands for High Efficiency Video Coding. Also known as H.265, HEVC is a video compression standard that allows GoPro to capture large video content, such as 4K60 and 1080p240, at roughly half the file size with equivalent image quality. Basically, you get the same, if not better, visuals at a fraction of the file size.

Adoption for this new standard is increasing, and is natively supported on Android 5.0+ and iOS 11 on newer phones and tablets with more powerful processors. Moreover, HEVC is natively supported on Windows 10 and MacOS High Sierra on newer desktop computers with more powerful processors.

Your HERO6 Blacks HEVC modes can be found below. If you do not have an HEVC-compatible computer or smart device, all resolution/frame rate combinations not listed below-including 4K30, 2.7K60 and 1080p120-use the familiar H.264 codec (as found on HERO5 and earlier cameras).

HEVC Modes in HERO6 Black

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When utilizing an HEVC video setting, a warning message will appear on the camera giving you a heads up that your phone or computer needs to be HEVC compatible for playback and editing. We display warnings on the GoPro app and the Quik for desktop app, as well.

How do you know if your device is HEVC compatible? Check out a complete reference guide HERE.

So, why did we choose to implement the HEVC coding into HERO6? Simply put, HEVC is a step forward in video compression, and GoPro continues to be at the leading edge of video capture. We want you to have the best possible image quality without compromising storage, offload and overall performance of your hardware.

LINK:	http://gopro.com/news/what-is-hevc...
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