computer science

High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels

High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels rather than just read about it. In short: High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels are constraints that define a High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) bitstream in terms of maximum bit rate, maximum luma sample rate, maximum luma picture size, minimum compression ratio, maximum number of slices allowed, and maximum number of tiles allowed. Lower tiers are more constrained than higher tiers and lower levels are more constrained than higher levels.

Key takeaways

High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels are constraints that define a High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) bitstream in terms of maximum bit rate, maximum luma sample rate, maximum luma picture size, minimum compression ratio, maximum number of slices allowed, and maximum number of tiles allowed. Lower tiers are more constrained than higher tiers and lower levels are more constrained than higher levels.

Tiers The HEVC standard defines two tiers: Main and High. The Main tier is a lower tier than the High tier. The tiers were made to deal with applications that differ in terms of their maximum bit rate. The Main tier was designed for most applications while the High tier was designed for very demanding applications.

Levels The HEVC standard defines thirteen levels. A level is a set of constraints for a bitstream. For levels below level 4 only the Main tier is allowed. A decoder that conforms to a given tier/level is required to be capable of decoding all bitstreams that are encoded for that tier/level and for all lower tiers/levels.

A The maximum bit rate of the profile is based on the combination of bit depth, chroma sampling, and the type of profile. For bit depth the maximum bit rate increases by 1.5x for 12-bit profiles and 2x for 16-bit profiles. For chroma sampling the maximum bit rate increases by 1.5x for 4:2:2 profiles and 2x for 4:4:4 profiles. For the Intra profiles the maximum bit rate increases by 2x. B The maximum frame rate supported by HEVC is 300 frames per second (fps). C The MaxDpbSize, maximum number of pictures in the decoded picture buffer, for the maximum luma picture size of that level is 6 for all levels. The MaxDpbSize can increase to a maximum of 16 frames, if the luma picture size of the video is smaller than the maximum luma picture size of that level, in incremental steps of 4/3×, 2×, or 4×. D The MinCR, minimum compression ratio, for that level. The MinCR constraint is reduced to half its base value for the 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 chroma sampling profiles and is reduced by an additional half for the Intra profiles. The MinCR is reduced to 1/24th of its base value with the High Throughput 4:4:4 16 Intra profile. E The maximum number of slice segments is the number of slices allowed per picture at both the maximum resolution and maximum frame rate. F The maximum number of tiles allowed per picture. The maximum number of tiles allowed per second is the maximum number of tiles allowed per picture times 120.

See also High Efficiency Video Coding UHDTV - Digital video formats with resolutions of 4K (3840×2160) and 8K (7680×4320) Rec. 2020 - ITU-R Recommendation for UHDTV H.264/MPEG-4 AVC - The predecessor video standard of HEVC VC-1 - A video standard developed by Microsoft

References

External links Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HEVC website Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) JCT-VC Document Management System Archived 2021-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels

In research: High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer file formats, Graphics file formats, H.26x, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels in simple terms?

Why does High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on High Efficiency Video Coding tiers and levels.