Compressed video data are growing at a faster rate than ever before. Already today, over 80% of the worldwide Internet traffic and over half of the traffic over mobile networks are video-related. This demonstrates the need for even more efficient compression, which goes beyond the current state-of-the-art High Efficiency Video Coding standard (HEVC/H.265). As a response to this demanding challenge, the ITU-T Video Coding Expert Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) have been working together to develop the Versatile Video Coding standard (VVC/H.266). VVC provides a 50% bit-rate reduction over HEVC and its first version was finalized in July 2020. Unlike previous video coding standards, VVC already includes in its first version specific coding tools and systems functionalities for a wide range of applications such as resolution-adaptive multi-rate video streaming services, 360-degree immersive video, ultra low-delay streaming, gaming, and screen sharing.

At CES 2023, Fraunhofer HHI will showcase the latest versions of its optimized VVC open-source software implementations together with their integration into third-party applications. This includes the fastest highly efficient open source VVC encoder (VVenC) as well as the fastest fully compliant open source VVC decoder (VVdeC). Based on VVenC, Fraunhofer HHI will be demonstrating how VVC achieves significant bit-rate reductions over HEVC within practical use. This ranges from integrating VVenC into a cloud-based platform for adaptive multi-resolution streaming to using VVenC for efficiently encode 8K high dynamic range (HDR) video content. Additionally, based on VVdeC, Fraunhofer HHI will be presenting various applications for live playback of VVC encoded video on desktop and mobile platforms as well as in web browsers.