Fraunhofer HHI Drives HEVC Adoption with the Industry’s First Real-time Hardware Solution at IBC 2013

Fraunhofer HHI’s H.265 / MPEG-HEVC hardware decoder and new encoding and decoding software make HEVC playback and mainstream adoption a reality

Berlin, Germany/Amsterdam – September 13, 2013 – (IBC booth 8B.80) – The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), a leader in the development of mobile and fixed broadband communication networks, multimedia systems, image processing and 3D, today announces the industry’s first H.265 / MPEG-HEVC real-time hardware decoder.  This solution, in addition to Fraunhofer HHI’s latest real-time HEVC encoding and decoding software, are the most innovative solutions for HEVC playback in the industry today.

“As a joint developer of the HEVC/H.265 video standard, Fraunhofer HHI understands the opportunity and benefits HEVC can deliver, as well as the challenges associated with its implementation,” said Thomas Schierl, head of group, Multimedia Communications of Fraunhofer HHI. “The very first hardware decoder and our software solutions are important technologies to drive HEVC adoption for mainstream applications in today’s market.”

As the up and coming compression standard, which reduces bit rates by fifty percent while maintaining image quality, the industry is eager to reap the benefits HEVC. Until now, the technology to effectively implement HEVC was lacking. Fraunhofer HHI’s R&D expertise designed the industry’s first real-time hardware decoder. This coupled with its latest HEVC real-time encoding and decoding software, will accelerate the adoption of HEVC products. This includes video conferencing with low latency, mobile web streaming, and high-quality television broadcasts.

The new, HEVC real-time hardware decoder’s ultra-low delay decoder IP core supports the HEVC main profile. Even without an additional processor core, the decoder provides real-time performance for full HD resolution (1080p30) at a clock frequency below 150 MHz. The design is currently implemented in the Altera Stratix-V FPGA.

Fraunhofer HHI’s new software encoder encodes 1080p HD video in real-time and streams to clients running Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. With its efficient multithreading, the decoder software allows real-time decoding of video content at 4K/UltraHD video resolutions at 60Hz for all currently specified H.265 profiles. To complement this software, HHI offers multiple test suites with HEVC-compliant bit streams for testing of HEVC decoder chips or corresponding set-top boxes.

IBC attendees can see demonstrations of the new HEVC solutions at the Fraunhofer Digital Cinema Alliance booth 8.B80. Fraunhofer HHI’s scientists are also available at the booth for one-one-conversations.

Fraunhofer HHI is part of the Fraunhofer Digital Cinema Alliance. The Alliance provides a network of deep expertise and intelligence for the development of scalable technologies and international standards that allow customers to stay ahead the market.

About Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute is a world leader in the development of mobile and fixed broadband communication networks and multimedia systems. From photonic components and systems to fiber optic sensors and high-speed hardware architectures, the Heinrich Hertz Institute works together with its international partners from research and industry on building the infrastructure for the future Gigabit Society. Fraunhofer HHI is your competent partner for broadcasting, gesture controlled man-machine interaction, image processing and transmission and use of interactive media.

Further Information: www.hhi.fraunhofer.de