hevc: What is High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) and why you should choose this to record videos on your smartphones – Times of India

If you have ever fiddled around with the camera settings on your smartphone, you must have come across a new video recording codec (file format) called HEVC or High Efficiency. Some smartphones also clarify this mode as space saving mode.
So, what is this new HEVC format and how does it help save space and does it affect the video quality in comparison to other formats. Let us explain:
What is HEVC or High Efficiency Video Codec
HEVC is a new international standard for video compression co-developed by ISO/IEC MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) and ITU-T VCEG (Video Coding Experts Group). The codec is also termed as H.265.
Simply put, HEVC is a new video recording format for compressed video which meets all the basic requirements of a compressed video, can be transmitted or shared or stored as a file on local storage. It can also be streamed over the internet or broadcasted.
Another important thing to understand about this new video compression format is that despite the fact it has high compression compared to the regular H.264 or AVC codecs, it does not sacrifice on the video quality.
But in order to achieve that, the HEVC format requires more resources compared to other formats.
HEVC is a new video codec that has higher compression compared to other formats which means that a 1-minute 4K video file recorded in the HEVC format will consume relatively less storage space compared to the same video file recorded in the regular H.264 format.
Why you should opt for the HEVC file format while shooting videos on your smartphone
HEVC is a widely accepted and supported file format now. Most modern smartphones including mid-range and budget phones offer support for this format. But, the reason why you should choose to record videos in this format is simply because it consumes less storage without sacrificing on the quality of the video.
That’s not it. Smaller video file size and better compression also means that it will be much easier to store and transfer or even stream compared to other formats.
So, if you are looking to share some videos, then the HEVC videos will be much easier to transfer and will also put less load on your network or limited daily data limit that we get with our recharge plans.
Does it work on all the devices
Well, this is where things are a little complicated with this file format. While it is high on compression, it is certainly low on compatibility. While the smartphones that support HEVC recording will be able to play the videos without any issue, however, there are devices that do not support this file format.
In that case, users will need to download a third-party media player that supports HEVC playback. Some media players that support HEVC format are VLC, MX Player, XPlayer, KM Player, etc.