H.264 vs H.265 — A technical comparison. When will H.265 dominate the market?

Stream4S opinion on when H.265 will become the standard codec on the market.

Remember those frustrating times when you were watching a video or a movie online and all of the sudden you experienced a loss of quality? Now it can be possible to stream high-quality videos in congested network environments in a faster and virtuous way. Conceived to boost video streaming, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), or H.265, is a video compression standard designed to substantially improve coding efficiency when compared to its precedent, the Advanced Video Coding (AVC), or H.264. With an increasing growth of video streaming on the Internet over popular websites such as Netflix and YouTube, and with 4K cameras gaining new ground in the market, a considerable amount of storage and bandwidth is required. HEVC promises a 50% storage reduction as its algorithm uses efficient coding by encoding video at the lowest possible bit rate while maintaining a high image quality level.

As many of us, Stream4s believes HEVC will revolutionize how video data is displayed, either online, on television and even in the surveillance industry. With this new format, image resolutions around 8192×4320 become possible to display and stream. To demonstrate the incredible power of this codec, a subjective video performance study was made between these two codecs to understand how intensely is this bit reduction. The study showed the bit reduction is inversely proportional to the video image quality, where HEVC/H.265 presented a bit reduction of 52% at 480p and 64% at 4K UHD when compared to H.264. Besides this outstanding bit reduction, when compared to H.264, HEVC/H.265 delivers a significantly better visual quality, when compressed to the same file size or bitrate.

 

 Powerful Streaming — at what cost?

Even though HEVC is already finalized, it is still not popular. Apart from the fact that the codec is patented by various parties and it is associated with high licensing fees, HEVC/H.265 comes with the trade-off requiring almost 10x more computing power. This new technology is on standby until the hardware market adapts to it, as it happened already with H.264, launched in 2003 but only gaining popularity a few years later. Hardware manufacturers are already starting to adjust their products to support this new format to fulfill the intense market need. Even though some softwares such as VideoLAN are capable to decode such codec, software decoding, although more flexible, is not an option since hardware decoding is usually faster and saves battery life tremendously. Nevertheless, hardware still takes up valuable disc space on either the CPU or GPU.

 

HVEC vs H.264 — a technical comparison

Both codecs work by comparing different parts of a video frame in order to find the ones that are redundant within the subsequent frames. These areas are replaced with a short information, describing the original pixels. What differs HEVC/H.265 from H.264 is the ability to expand the size of these areas into bigger or smaller blocks, called coding tree units (CTU) in the HEVC/H.265. The pattern CTU sizes can be from 4×4 to 64×64, whilst H.264 only allows a maximum block-size of 16×16 (CTU is particular feature of HEVC). An improved CTU segmentation, as well as a better motion compensation and spatial prediction require much more signal processing capability for video compression, but has a significantly less impact on the amount of computation needed for decompression. Motion compensated prediction, another great progress in HEVC/H.265, references blocks of pixels to another area in the same frame (intra prediction) or in another frame (inter prediction).

As mentioned above, CTU are one of the HEVC’s main coding tools. Apart from this, the codec relies on paralleling processing computing techniques to make it even faster and supports advanced extensions as AVX/AVX2 and FMA3/FMA4. The individual rectangular regions that divide the image are independent and enable parallel processing. Besides, HEVC also has another feature that H.264 doesn’t possess: Wavefront Parallel Processing (WPP), a sort of decision tree that grants a more productive and effectual compression.

Several other coding tools used in H.264 are continued in this new codec, although with some slight, yet unprecedented, changes. The lossless data compression entropy coding, the Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), is preserved in HEVC/H.265 but in a slightly upgraded version. Intra prediction is another feature that suffered significantly improvements in relation to H.264. HEVC stipulates 33 directional modes while H.264 limits them to 8 and allows DC intra prediction as well as planar prediction. An additional improvement is mainly due to the Adaptive Motion Vector Prediction, the newest method for inter prediction as it uses the picture information in a more concise way.

Thanks to the notably improvements that can be seen in this new codec, Stream4s is confident that HEVC/H.265 will become the universal standard codec, as soon as the hardware catches up.

HEVC/H.265 not only has a better visual quality at a low storage and bandwidth but also a dexterously coding algorithm by encoding motion vectors with much greater precision and minimal residual errors. Besides the preeminent method used for inter prediction, this new codec also presents an improved deblocking filter and sample adaptive offset to reduce even more artifacts.

Another excellent tutorial on it:

https://youtu.be/Fawcboio6g4

Here is a YouTube demo. The difference is dramatic for h.265:

https://youtu.be/qL22L0mRSDs



Source: https://medium.com/advanced-computer-vision/h-264-vs-h-265-a-technical-comparison-when-will-h-265-dominate-the-market-26659303171a

The Difference Between DVD and Blu-ray

Blu-ray has finally won the high definition format war, but that is just the beginning. There is a lot of confusion out there among the general public about the difference between DVD and Blu-ray discs. Although Blu-ray discs look exactly the same as DVDs in size and shape there are many differences between the media, including storage capacity, laser technology, disc construction, image resolution and player compatibility.

Storage Capacity
Storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB), like computers and iPods. The more GB the disc has more information it can hold.

• DVD- Single layer DVDs can store about 4.7 GB of data, which is about two hours worth of movie. These are commonly referred to as DVD-5s. Double layer DVDs, or DVD-9s, can store twice the amount of data at 8.7 GB. This equals about four hours of movie, or one “Lord of the Rings” movie.
• Blu-ray- Single layer Blu-ray discs store approximately 25 GB of data, this equals about two hours of high definition information or 13 hours of standard definition information. Double layer Blu-ray discs can hold about 50 GB equaling about four and a half hours of high definition information or 26 hours in standard definition. Potentially you could put all three “Lord of the Rings” movies on one double layer Blu-ray disc.

Laser Technology
Lasers are used in both media to read the information stored on the disc. As the disc spins the laser reads the information and transfers both picture and sound to the television.

• DVD- DVD players use a red laser at 650nm wave length to read DVD discs. As the disc spins the laser reads the information encoded on the media and produces an image and sound on your television.
• Blu-ray- Like the name suggests Blu-ray players use a blue laser to read the stored information. Blue laser wavelengths are shorter than the red at 405nm and are about two and a half times smaller in diameter than red lasers. This allows for closer and more precise reading of information stored on the disc.

Disc Construction
Physically, Blu-ray and DVD discs are identical. Both media have grooves or pits on their bottom layer than enables the laser to penetrate through and read the stored information.

• DVD- Since DVDs are read with a red laser the grooves on its underside need to be wide enough to accommodate the larger wavelength. Because the grooves are so far apart only 4.7 GB of information can be stored on each layer of the disc. DVDs also include a protective layer designed to resist scratching.
• Blu-ray- The grooves on a Blu-ray disc are much thinner and closer together because the blue laser used to read the disc has a shorter wave length and is two and a half times thinner than the red laser. This allows the Blu-ray disc to squeeze almost five times as many grooves on to a disc exactly the same size as a DVD. Blu-ray also includes a protective layer to prevent scratches. This protective layer is physically thinner than the one on a DVD, but it has a hard coating that makes it more scratch resistant.

Image Resolution
Image resolution is measured by the number of vertical lines times the number of horizontal lines of light in a picture. It is represented by the number of horizontal lines going across the screen like 480, 720 or 1080. The higher the number the higher the resolution and more detailed the picture.

• DVD- Almost all DVDs have a standard definition resolution of 480 or enhanced definition resolution of 520. These resolutions look great on a standard “tube” TV utilizing all available pixels on the screen. However, if blown up to accommodate a widescreen HDTV the picture may look grainy. Although a DVD can store high definition data it would only fit about 30 minutes maximum.
• Blu-ray- Blu-ray was designed for high definition 1080 display. Since they can store 25 GB of data you can fit an entire HD movie on a single layer disc. Blu-ray currently has the best image resolution on the market and looks great on HDTVs. Blu-ray discs are one of the few signal sources that displays in 1080, not even HD cable or satellite companies can claim that yet.

Player Compatibility
Some of us are still recovering from the VHS to DVD format switch of almost 10 years ago, slowly upgrading our VHS collections to DVD. Now, there is a new, better format on the horizon and many are still skeptical. However, you’ll be happy to hear that all Blu-ray players support DVDs.

• DVD Players- Blu-ray discs cannot and will not play in a standard DVD player, because the red laser used in DVD players is too large to read the tiny grooves in a Blu-ray disc.
• Blu-ray Players- All Blu-ray players currently on the market (including the Playstation 3) are backwards compatible and will still play standard DVDs. However, the DVD image displayed, while still decent, will not be high definition quality like a Blu-ray disc.

Fear not technophobes, the transition from DVD to Blu-ray will be relatively painless once the price of Blu-ray players starts to come down. With the exception of storage capacity perhaps the best thing Blu-ray has going for it is its higher image resolution and compatibility with standard DVDs. To find the Blu-ray player that fits your budget see our Blu-ray DVD players review.

Source: http://www.toptenreviews.com/electronics/articles/the-difference-between-dvd-and-blu-ray/

Why Blu-ray's Better Than DVD

New format trumps its predecessor, plain and simple.

Having soundly defeated HD DVD, Blu-ray now reigns supreme atop the home video format hierarchy. But in spite of that convincing victory, BD technology has yet to be fully embraced by consumers. Like that nagging fly that you just can't seem to swat, standard-def DVD is still buzzing around.


Last week, we made a pretty convincing case as to why DVD could be viewed as "better" than Blu-ray. To the delight of those of you who ripped us a new one after reading that article (we love a good controversy), this counter-argument will attempt to prove the opposing view: Why Blu-ray is better than DVD.
There's no denying that Blu-ray is technically superior. The picture looks amazing and features like BD-Live, when properly showcased, are unrivaled.
The hardware may be expensive, but if you're a serious gamer you probably already own a PS3. Problem solved.
The gloves have come off. It's on like Donkey Kong! (Insert your own cliché here.) And the Blu-ray vs. DVD battle continues. Check out our reasons why we think Blu-ray is better than DVD, and let us know what you think in the comments below. Continues
 

Freakin' Awesome Picture
There's no arguing that Blu-ray is the superior format when it comes to audio and video. It just is.  With a resolution that's six times that of DVD, a quick check of any blockbuster Blu-ray will amaze you with 1080p sharpness. The colors, the detail, and the clarity of motion are all vastly improved over their DVD counterparts.
You don't have to be a math genius to figure out that 1080 is more than 420, but as videophiles know, what that really means is that you're getting more than two and a half times as much visual information in those tiny little lines on your screen, and that makes for five times the amount of detail. That allows for more detail, definition and dimension than you normally get on DVD.
These days, a lot of films are made with high-definition cameras, so Blu-ray is able to provide an image much closer to the source. That makes for a picture that's truer to life and far more attractive than anything in standard-def. And that's not just the case with new releases either. Even older titles like The Godfather, animated features like Sleeping Beauty and black and white classics like Casablanca benefit from this technology. It's like discovering your favorite films all over again... for the first time. Or something.

The Godfather on Blu-ray: An offer you can't refuse.

Mind-Blowing Audio
Any legit home theater enthusiast knows that sound is truly 50 percent of the entertainment viewing experience. It's a good thing, then, that Blu-ray's awesome visuals are matched by the stunning depth and complexity of the surround-sound, with certain discs offering 7.1 surround and all discs providing an infinitely more crisp and clear audio presentation.
Even if your home theater is not equipped to handle full 7.1 channel surround sound, the digital Dolby TrueHD and lossless DTS-HD Master Audio tracks that come on most Blu-ray discs are more than sufficient to blow the roof off your living room.
Listening to an amazing audio presentation like the one offered on the recent Akira Blu-ray will change the way you hear movies. There's nothing like the rich, full, booming sound you get from a truly immersive mix that you can feel down to your bones. Even in a more quiet, subtle film, you'll hear background details you might have otherwise missed. Nothing draws you into a film more than feeling like you are right there in the middle of the action.
DVD simply can't match the aural awesomeness of Blu-ray. End of story.

Mo' Better Blus
Blu-ray discs allow more creative potential for the film's extras, animated menus, pop-up tracks and picture-in-picture features and commentaries. And, of course, there are all the interactive possibilities of BD-Live -- more on that in a sec.
The Blu-ray experience allows viewers to explore menu options without leaving the movie, and to bookmark favorite scenes -- two simple features that have a big impact once you actually begin to make use of them.
We'll be the first to admit that BD-Live has left us wanting. The blame for this, however, lies at the feet of the studios who have not fully grasped how to leverage this amazing technology.
BD-Live, for any n00bs who might be reading this, is a set of special online features available on compatible titles to viewers with an Internet-ready player. You can download extra content, checkout online bonus features, and participate in interactive chats. Where DVD might have allowed you to listen to a director's prerecorded commentary, BD-Live can take you right into his living room for a real-time conversation about the film -- Universal offered just that with Guillermo del Toro on the Hellboy II: The Golden Army Blu-ray.
There's even gaming potential with BD-Live -- another possibility that remains largely untapped. Take, for instance, the fully interactive, multiplayer trivia game included on the Men In Black Blu-ray. It feels more like a full-featured videogame than just another extra on a movie disc. The online portion of the game features lobbies, the option to host tournaments for various numbers of players (up to 8), and the ability to customize questions.

What they said.

Once studios really get hip to BD-Live technology, there will be a lot more cool stuff. We can't wait.
Beyond the benefits of killer interactive content, certain BD-Live players can also be upgraded using the BD-Live Connection. Your DVD player just became a boat anchor.

It Makes Your HD Set-Up Legit
You know that massive flat-screen HD TV you just got? Or how about that spiffy surround-sound system? Maybe you just got them to replace a busted set or components, or maybe just to watch the game. Regardless, everything is going to be vastly improved by the Blu-ray experience. And it'll make you feel substantially better about the money you've sunk into living room technology.
If you're still hesitant about shelling out for a Blu-ray player, consider that Sony's PlayStation 3 will play Blu-rays. The Blu-ray features aren't just an afterthought either, they're a core part of the machine. In fact, the PS3 actually plays BR discs better than many current standalone players. Yes, it's expensive, but rumors of a significant price drop persist. But even if you're just a casual gamer, we think it's worth the money.

The price may drop on Sony's Blu-ray playing PlayStation 3


Blu-ray Players Will Play Old Stuff
Given the fact that the DVD has been deemed the most successful consumer product ever, you probably own a ton of them. Not to worry. Blu-ray players will play standard-def DVDs as well as audio CDs, just like your old DVD player.
There was a time -- those of you reading this over the age of 20 will remember -- when the emergence of a new home video format meant that your entire collection was rendered obsolete. Blu-ray players play the exact same 12cm and 8cm discs that you could play in your old school player. So, unlike the jumps from VHS, to Laserdisc, to DVD, the Blu-ray switch should be completely painless.
In fact, most Blu-ray players won't just play your DVDs, they'll make them better. This is accomplished through upscaling technology, pig's blood, and black magic. (Just seeing if you were paying attention.) Upscaling boosts your old assy DVDs to nearly 1080p/1080i quality. That means everything you watch will be astonishing -- except scenes from the Star Wars prequels featuring Jar Jar Binks, which will always look like crap no matter what.

Not an upscaled Episode I DVD screenshot, but even if it were: Still crap.

Technical Knockout
Without getting overly technical, the term "Blu-ray" comes from the blue-violet laser used to interpret the data on the disc (as opposed to the red used for standard DVDs). Because of that laser's shorter wavelength, a Blu-ray disc is able to compress more information into the same amount of space, allowing for up to 50 GB of information on a dual-layered disc (and Pioneer has recently been able to push that to as much as 500 GB on 20 layers).
OK, maybe we got overly technical.  Anyway... What all of this means for the consumer is that you're basically getting more content, more interactivity and more special features in a smaller package. Not only does it save room on your library shelves, it saves on shipping costs, which can mean a lower price, particularly on those unwieldy box sets. Imagine getting the entire series of The Sopranos on, say, 10 discs instead of the current 33 that come in the DVD box.

Too many discs!

Blu-rays are also more durable than DVDs. Because Blu-ray's transparent cover layer is only 0.1 mm thick vs. 0.6mm for DVD, there were initial concerns about BR discs being more vulnerable to light scratching than DVDs. That's why Blu-ray disc manufacturers developed a hard coating that protects the discs, making them even more resistant to scratches than DVDs.
Blu-ray also sports an error correction system which is more robust and efficient than the one used for DVDs. Suck it, DVD.
 
Given the costs involved in upgrading hardware and the higher pricetag of Blu-ray discs, it may take a while before we see the mass adoption of Blu-ray. Still, the fact that it's a superior format is crystal clear.
Are you a Blu-ray early adopter? Or have you resisted taking the leap? Tell us where you stand in the comments.

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/25/why-blu-rays-better-than-dvd

The Top 15 Sites for Free Streaming Music

Listen to free streaming music and radio stations from all over the world!

Music is the universal language, and with the amazing convenience of the World Wide Web, more music is available to us than from ever before in human history. From classic rock to alternative to baroque instrumentals, it's possible to find free streaming music on the Web that will cater to virtually any musical taste. In this article, we'll look at the top fifteen sites for free streaming music, sports, news, talk shows, and much more. Wherever your taste may lie, you're sure to find something to meet your needs in one of these offerings, and all of these are available to listen to via your computer or mobile device.

Google Play gives listeners the chance to upload and store thousands of songs from their own collections for free, create playlists, and listen to hundreds of thousands of songs in a huge variety of genres. You can listen for free to the Google Play radio offerings; users have the ability to subscribe with a small monthly fee which makes the experience ad-free.  More »

If you're looking for something to expand your musical tastes, Hype Machine is a great choice. This innovative site gives listeners the ability to find new music via people who are writing about the music that they love - all in one place, rather than skipping from site to site.  It's an interesting way to find what people are starting to discover. More »

Shoutcast gives listeners the ability to listen to over 70,000 stations in a huge variety of genres, from Alternative to Talk to Holiday. However, that's not the only thing you can do with Shoutcast - if you want to start your own radio station here, you can, with free broadcasting tools made available by the Shoutcast service. This is a great way to get something started with very little outlay.  More »

AccuRadio makes listening to music online simply fun. They offer the standard genres of music, but they also offer enjoyable "channels" that change every so often and are a great way to discover new music - a nice alternative if you're looking to discover new artists or genres you haven't listened to before.  More »

Slacker Radio gives users the ability to search by artist or song and stations will be suggested, with the ability to craft that station into exactly how you'd like it to be. There are different payment levels available here, but most of the features are absolutely free and listeners can take advantage of hundreds of stations.   More »

Think of the sort of music you like, and iHeart Radio will suggest stations for you based on your preferences. You can also use iHeart Radio to listen to local stations all over the United States and Mexico, create stations based on popular artists, or discover top podcasts on a wide variety of subjects.  More »

TuneIn gives users the option to listen to radio stations, talk shows, podcasts, and much more. Over 100,000 radio stations, live shows, and lots of other content are available here for free, including sports, news radio, and talk shows.  The ability to listen to local radio stations all over the world is a great feature. More »

977music.com is 100% free for listeners, and you can listen to as much music for as long as you would like. There are hundreds of channels here programmed by listeners, and they are available wherever you might have Internet access - both home and work.  More »

RadioTunes is one of the most popular streaming music sites on the Web. You can filter your musical tastes by Style (Smooth Jazz, Easy Listening, Top Hits, etc.), and Channels (80's, Mostly Classical, Oldies, etc). There are seemingly unlimited stations to listen to here, and listening is free (must sign up for a free account).  More »

Radio.net is a great service; you can access all sorts of global broadcasts here, from the BBC World Service to Radio Swiss Classic to CBS Dallas. More than 30,000 radio stations, online radios, and podcasts are available here to listen to within the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and more.   More »

Last.fm offers listeners the ability to not only listen to and discover music but also visualize the listening habits and musical trends that the Last.FM musical community is listening to. It's an interesting way to see what other people are listening to.   More »

You can listen to Soma.fm's stations right within your Web browser, just like all the other streaming music websites on this list. There are only a limited amount of stations here, within highly specialized genres - jazz, chill, indie folks, etc - all featuring a very California-like vibe. Soma is especially popular with people looking for background music for tasks that require concentration.  More »

PublicRadioFan is a massive collection of stations around the globe. You can search by schedules, time zones, station call letters, and more.  More »

Pandora lets you create your own radio station, from music that you choose, and then you can continue to improve upon the service's selections as it plays for you. Thumbs up for something you like, thumbs down for something you don't. If you'd rather avoid listening to ads every once in a while, Pandora offers a subscription service for a low monthly fee. More »

Spotify is somewhat similar to Pandora, at least in concept. Spotify functions more of a platform on which you can install and use different musical applications, such as Billboard's Top Picks, Rolling Stone Music, Share My Playlists, and Digster. You can listen to entire albums without paying for them (with only limited commercial interruption), create playlists, share your favorites with others, and more. Radio stations are also available on Spotify, but you create them yourself from songs you already like. More »

Source: https://www.lifewire.com/free-streaming-music-online-4046547