H.265 (HEVC): The Technically Superior Codec Killed by Patent Licensing

H.265, formally known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), is a video codec standard finalized in 2013. Developed jointly by the ITU-T and ISO/IEC, it achieves approximately 50% better compression than H.264 at equivalent visual quality — a significant technical achievement. ## Technical Improvements H.265 introduced larger coding tree units (up to 64×64 vs H.264's 16×16 macroblocks), more sophisticated motion prediction, improved in-loop filtering (sample adaptive offset), and more efficient entropy coding. These improvements doubled compression efficiency, meaning the same video quality could be delivered at half the bitrate. ## The Licensing Disaster H.265's adoption was devastated by its patent licensing structure. Three separate patent pools emerged: - **MPEG LA:** The traditional pool, with relatively reasonable terms - **HEVC Advance:** A second pool with significantly higher royalty demands - **Velos Media:** A third pool with its own set of essential patents The pools had overlapping patent claims, and the total licensing cost for implementing H.265 was uncertain — companies couldn't calculate their obligations in advance. Some patent holders demanded royalties based on content revenue rather than per-device fees, which was unprecedented and potentially ruinous for streaming platforms. ## The Consequence Major web platforms refused to widely adopt H.265. Google/YouTube invested in VP9 (royalty-free) as their primary codec. Netflix used H.265 selectively but pushed toward AV1. The Alliance for Open Media was formed explicitly to create a royalty-free alternative, producing AV1 in 2018. H.265 succeeded in contexts where licensing was manageable: 4K Blu-ray discs, broadcast television (ATSC 3.0), security cameras, and Apple's ecosystem (Apple paid licensing fees and used HEVC across iOS/macOS). But on the open web — the largest video delivery platform — H.265 was bypassed entirely. ## Legacy H.265's patent mess directly motivated the creation of AV1 and established a pattern: the industry will route around patent-encumbered standards by creating royalty-free alternatives, even if the free alternative is technically inferior. H.266/VVC (the successor) has the same licensing problems and is following the same trajectory toward irrelevance on the web. Video Codec History: H.261 to AV2 and the 2026 State of Streaming Compression AV1: The Royalty-Free Codec That Won the Web H.264 (AVC): The Video Codec That Enabled YouTube and Modern Streaming