Overview of the Versatile Video Coding (VVC) Standard and its Applications

TLDR

Versatile Video Coding (VVC) was finalized in July 2020 by JVET of ITU‑T VCEG and ISO/IEC MPEG to meet the growing demand for higher compression efficiency and support a broader range of media content and emerging applications. This paper reviews VVC’s novel technical features and core compression technologies that deliver roughly 50 % bitrate savings over HEVC and 75 % over AVC for equivalent video quality. The authors explain how VVC’s new features—such as enhanced coding tools and scalability options—enable greater versatility across applications including high‑resolution, HDR, wide‑color gamut, adaptive streaming, computer‑generated and screen‑captured video, ultralow‑delay streaming, 360° immersive video, and multilayer coding. Early implementations demonstrate that VVC is implementable and ready for real‑world deployment.

Abstract

Versatile Video Coding (VVC) was finalized in July 2020 as the most recent international video coding standard. It was developed by the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET) of the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) to serve an ever-growing need for improved video compression as well as to support a wider variety of today’s media content and emerging applications. This paper provides an overview of the novel technical features for new applications and the core compression technologies for achieving significant bit rate reductions in the neighborhood of 50% over its predecessor for equal video quality, the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, and 75% over the currently most-used format, the Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard. It is explained how these new features in VVC provide greater versatility for applications. Highlighted applications include video with resolutions beyond standard- and high-definition, video with high dynamic range and wide color gamut, adaptive streaming with resolution changes, computer-generated and screen-captured video, ultralow-delay streaming, 360° immersive video, and multilayer coding e.g., for scalability. Furthermore, early implementations are presented to show that the new VVC standard is implementable and ready for real-world deployment.