If the internet had a family photo album, H.264 would definitely be on the cover — that reliable uncle who shows up at every holiday gathering, fixes your router, and somehow still uses the same phone from 2014. For over a decade, H.264 has powered everything from YouTube streams to security cameras, Zoom calls, and browser-based cat videos. It became the default simply because it worked everywhere — and because every device under the sun includes a hardware decoder for it.
But time moves on, resolutions grow, and people keep buying 4K TVs they can’t tell apart from a good 1080p. As a result, engineers kept asking the same question: “Can we compress video even better?” And that’s how we ended up with H.265 (HEVC) and H.266 (VVC) — two highly efficient, highly ambitious codecs that promise huge improvements but come with baggage that even seasoned lawyers are afraid to unpack.
Here’s what the transition really looks like — from a U.S.-audience perspective, with a bit of humor and a lot of technical context.
H.264: The Old Reliable
H.264 earned its market dominance through three ingredients:
- Reasonable efficiency,
- Hardware support everywhere,
- A licensing model that, while not free, was at least predictable.
Technically, H.264 uses macroblocks sized 16×16 pixels. For its time, that was a huge deal — it allowed decent compression while keeping decoding simple enough for early mobile CPUs and consumer-grade set-top boxes.
In the browser world, H.264 became the “universal handshake.” Chrome, Firefox, Safari — everyone supported it because the hardware was already there, and the legal department wasn’t breaking into cold sweats.
But nothing lasts forever. Especially when video resolutions keep doubling.
H.265 (HEVC): The Overachiever With Licensing Drama
HEVC arrived like a Silicon Valley startup founder presenting a pitch deck full of exponential charts. And to be fair — it really is impressive.
Here’s what HEVC brought to the table:
1. Larger, smarter block structures
H.265 ditched the old 16×16 macroblocks and introduced Coding Tree Units (CTUs) up to 64×64 pixels.
This is a big deal: larger blocks = fewer overhead bits = significantly higher compression efficiency, especially for flat areas, skies, walls, and static surveillance scenes.
2. More flexible partitioning
Each 64×64 CTU can be recursively split into smaller blocks — all the way down to 4×4. That’s like upgrading from LEGOs to nanobots. The encoder can adapt block size to content:
- Big blocks for quiet areas
- Tiny blocks near edges, movement, faces, license plates
3. Better motion prediction
More directions, more prediction modes, and more accurate compensation.
4. Parallel decoding
HEVC introduced Wavefront Parallel Processing (WPP), letting different rows of blocks decode simultaneously — finally taking advantage of multi-core CPUs.
5. Clean Random Access
A fancy way of saying: you can jump into a stream faster without decoding half the previous scene. For security monitoring, that’s gold — operators need instant access, not a 2-second wait.
In short: HEVC is genuinely superior to H.264.
But here’s the part they didn’t put on the brochure:
HEVC has three competing patent pools.
Three.
As in: THRICE the contracts, fees, negotiations, and “our lawyers will get back to your lawyers.”
For hardware manufacturers, this is annoying.
For open-source browser vendors? It’s a non-starter.
Safari supports HEVC because Apple pays for the decoding hardware anyway.
Microsoft Edge follows through Windows Store decoders.
Chrome and Firefox took one look at the licensing labyrinth, whispered “Nope,” and went for tacos.
H.266 (VVC): A Technical Marvel Stranded in Legal Fog
Just when HEVC was beginning to settle in, engineers created something even more advanced: H.266 / VVC. Think of it as HEVC but turbocharged.
What VVC does better:
- Up to 50% better compression vs HEVC
- Ideal for 4K, 8K, 12K, 360° video, VR/AR
- Extremely flexible block partitioning
- Enhanced intra prediction
- Improved inter prediction
- Better handling of fast motion
- More parallelism
Even more impressive block structure
VVC retains the 64×64 CTU concept but expands partitioning with a quadtree + multi-type tree structure. Translation: the encoder splits blocks in ridiculously flexible patterns — horizontally, vertically, diagonally, asymmetrically — carving out shapes with surgical precision to match fine details or chaotic motion.
This is phenomenal for compression.
But amazing engineering doesn’t automatically equal real-world adoption. Especially when…
The licensing story repeats itself.
VVC comes with its own new patent pool — and guess who runs it?
Yes, the same folks behind HEVC’s more complicated pool.
Browser vendors once again stepped back.
Way back.
Like “across the street and into another ZIP code” back.
As of today, no major browser supports H.266, and none seem in a hurry.
Why Browsers Say “Thanks, But No Thanks”
The logic is painfully simple:
- Browsers are free.
- Browsers run on billions of devices.
- Browsers can’t embed patented codecs without guaranteed licensing coverage.
- HEVC and VVC are expensive and fragmented.
- Supporting them could expose browser vendors to immense liability.
And on the other side?
AV1 exists.
Royalty-free.
Backed by Google, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla.
Supported by modern GPUs.
Increasingly efficient.
Browsers are choosing the codec that won’t drag them into court.
Meanwhile, in the Security Camera World…
Security systems play by different rules.
Manufacturers control the hardware, the software, and the environment — a closed loop. They can license codecs directly without worrying about billions of users or open-source obligations.
In that universe:
- H.265 is already commonplace
- H.266 is starting to appear
- Storage savings matter
- Bandwidth limits matter
- And legal complexity is something vendors can actually manage
But even there, the upgrade path is anything but smooth:
- Older cameras can’t be updated to new codecs
- Cheap SoCs barely handle H.264, let alone HEVC
- VVC demands significantly more processing power
- VMS platforms must rewrite major parts of their media pipelines
So the idea of “everyone switching to H.266” remains firmly in the future.
The Practical Reality
The journey from H.264 → H.265 → H.266 isn’t just about smarter algorithms or larger coding blocks. It’s a reminder that in technology, the best design doesn’t always win — the one with the fewest legal obstacles often does.
For the open web:
- H.264 is still the foundation
- AV1 is the clear path forward
- HEVC and VVC are simply too entangled in licensing
For closed ecosystems like CCTV:
- HEVC makes sense today
- VVC will make sense eventually
- but the transition will be expensive, complex, and slow
As Americans like to say:
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — unless the lawyers tell you to.”
And in the world of video codecs, that’s more or less the operating manual.