Content for TR 26.906 Word version: 18.0.0

...

1 Scope p. 6

The present document reports the evaluation of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) codec in 3GPP services. It provides an overview of the codec and a comparison to H.264 (AVC) codec. The support of H.264 (AVC) is mandated for 3GP-DASH (TS 26.247), PSS (TS 26.234), MBMS (TS 26.346), 3GPP file format (TS 26.244), MTSI (TS 26.114) and MMS (TS 26.140) in Release 11. The present document reports on the performance of H.265 (HEVC) when used in 3GPP services for video coding in comparison to H.264 (AVC) and the performance of H.265 (HEVC) when used in 3GPP services for image coding in comparison to JPEG. Performance is evaluated in typical 3GPP service environments taking into account bandwidth and coding efficiency, user experience and complexity. Based on the performance results, recommendations are provided for the proper inclusion of H.265 (HEVC) in 3GPP services.

2 References p. 6

The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present document.

References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or non-specific.
For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same Release as the present document.

[1]

TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".

[2]

Sullivan, G. J.; Ohm, J.-R.; Han, W.-J.; Wiegand T., "Overview of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Standard," IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol.22, no.12, pp.1649-1668, Dec. 2012.

[3]

Bossen, F.; Bross, B.; Suhring, K.; Flynn D., "HEVC Complexity and Implementation Analysis," IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol.22, no.12, pp.1685-1696, Dec. 2012.

[4]

Vanne, J.; Viitanen, M.; Hamalainen, T. D.; Hallapuro A., "Comparative Rate-Distortion-Complexity Analysis of HEVC and AVC Video Cdecs," IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol.22, no.12, pp.1885-1898, Dec. 2012.

[5]

F. Bosen, "On software complexity," document JCTVC-G757 of JCT-VC, Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 2011.

[6]

F. Bosen, "On software complexity: decoding 720p content on a tablet," document JCTVC-J0128 of JCT-VC, Stockholm, Sweden, Jul. 2012.

[7]

K. McCann, J.-Y. Choi, e al, "HEVC software player demonstration on mobile devices," document JCTVC-G988 of JCT-VC, Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 2011.

[8]

K. Veera, R. Ganguly, e al, "A real-time ARM HEVC decoder implementation," document JCTVC-H0693 of JCT-VC, José, CA, USA, Feb. 2012.

[9]

J.-R. Ohm, G. J. Sullivan, H. Schwarz, T. K. Tan, and T. Wiegand, "Comparison of the coding efficiency of video coding standards - including high efficiency video coding (HEVC)," IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, December 2012.

[10]

V. Baroncini, G. J. Sullivan, and J.-R. Ohm, "Report on preliminary subjective testing of HEVC compression capability," document JCTVC-H1004 of JCT-VC, San José, USA, Feb. 2012.

[11]

Y. Zhao, et al, "Coding efficiency comparison between HM5.0 and JM16.2 based on PQI, PSNR and SSIM," document JCTVC-H0063 of JCT-VC, San José, USA, Feb. 2012.

[12]

T. K. Tan, A. Fujibayashi, Y. Suzuki and J. Takiue, "Objective and subjective evaluation of HM5.0," document JCTVC-H0116 of JCT-VC, San José, USA, Feb. 2012.

[13]

B. Li, G. J. Sullivan, and J. Xu, "Comparison of compression performance of HEVC working draft 7 with AVC high profile", document JCTVC-J0236 of JCT-VC, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2012.

[14]

Recommendation ITU-T P.910 (04-08): "Subjective video quality assessment methods for multimedia applications".

[15]

Recommendation ITU-R BT.500 (01-12): "Methodology for the subjective assessment of the quality of television pictures".

[16]

ISO/IEC PDTR 29170-1: "Information technology -- Advanced image coding and evaluation methodologies -- Part 1: Guidelines for codec evaluation".

[17]

TS 26.273: "ANSI-C code for the fixed-point Extended Adaptive Multi-Rate - Wideband (AMR-WB+) speech codec".

[18]

TS 26.247: "Transparent end-to-end Packet-switched Streaming Service (PSS); Progressive Download and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (3GP-DASH)".

[19]

TS 26.234: "Transparent end-to-end Packet-switched Streaming Service (PSS); Protocols and codecs".

[20]

TS 26.346: "Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS); Protocols and codecs".

[21]

TS 26.244: "Transparent end-to-end packet switched streaming service (PSS); 3GPP file format (3GP)".

[22]

TS 26.114: "IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS); Multimedia telephony; Media handling and interaction".

[23]

TS 26.140: "Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS); Media formats and codecs".

[24]

Recommendation ITU-T P.800 (08/1996): "Methods for subjective determination of transmission quality".

3 Definitions and abbreviations p. 7

3.1 Definitions p. 7

For the purposes of the present document, the terms and definitions given in TR 21.905 apply.

3.2 Abbreviations p. 7

For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in TR 21.905 and the following apply.

AVC

Advanced Video Coding

Bjontegaard Delta

BLA

Broken Link Access

CABAC

Context Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding

CAVLC

Context Adaptive Variable Length Coding

CPB

Coded Picture Buffer

CRA

Clean Random Access

CTU

Coding Tree Unit

DASH

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP

DCT

Discrete Cosine Transform

DPB

Decoded Picture Buffer

DST

Discrete Sine Transform

GDR

Gradual Decoding Refresh

GOP

Group of Pictures

HEVC

High Efficiency Video Coding

HRD

Hypothetical Reference Decoder

IDR

Instantaneous Decoding Refresh

IRAP

Intra Random Access Point

ISOBMFF

ISO Base Media File Format

MANE

Media Aware Network Element

MOS

Mean Opinion Score

NAL

Network Abstraction Layer

JCT-VC

Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding

MBMS

Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

MMCO

Memory Management Control Operation

MMS

Multimedia Messaging Service

MTSI

Multimedia Telephony Service for IMS

MTU

Maximum Transmission Unit

PPS

Picture Parameter Set

Quantization Parameter

PSNR

Peak Signal Noise Ratio

PSS

Packet-switched Streaming

RADL

Random Access Decodable Leading

RAP

Random Access Period

RASL

Random Access Skipped Leading

RPLC

Reference Picture List Construction

RPS

Reference Picture Set

SAO

Sample Adaptive Offset

SEI

Supplemental Enhancement Information

SAP

Stream Access Point

SPS

Sequence Parameter Set

TSA

Temporal Sub-layer Access

STSA

Stepwise Temporal Sub-layer Access

VPS

Video Parameter Set

WPP

Wavefront Parallel Processing

4 Introduction p. 8

The present document provides a study on evaluation of the H.265 (HEVC) video codec for 3GPP services. Use cases and technical solutions are investigated regarding a variety of setups using 3GPP's streaming, multicast/broadcast, download and progressive download as well as conversational services. Clause 5 provides a technical overview of the H.265 (HEVC) video codec, highlighting its key differences compared to H.264 (AVC). Clause 6 provides a description of the test cases and experimental setup for evaluation of H.265 (HEVC) versus H.264 (AVC). Clause 7 and clause 8 provide experimental results for video and image coding, respectively. Clause 9 provides the conclusions for evaluation of HEVC for each of the 3GPP services.