AVS (video compression format)

AVS (video compression format)
Name	AVS
Full name	Audio Video Standard
Developer	China's National Broadcasting and Television Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and ZTE
Released	2005

AVS (video compression format) is a video compression standard developed by China's National Broadcasting and Television Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and ZTE, with the goal of reducing dependence on foreign technologies like H.264 from Nokia, Apple Inc., and Microsoft. The development of AVS involved collaboration with various Chinese organizations, including Huawei, Lenovo, and Haier. AVS is designed to provide high-quality video compression while minimizing the computational requirements, making it suitable for a wide range of applications, from DVD players to Set-top boxes from Samsung, LG Electronics, and Sony. The standard has undergone several revisions, with the latest version being AVS3, which offers improved compression efficiency and support for 4K resolution and High Dynamic Range (HDR) from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube.

Introduction

The AVS video compression format is an open standard, allowing for widespread adoption and implementation by various companies, including Intel, IBM, and Cisco Systems. The standard is designed to be flexible, supporting a range of applications, from low-bitrate Internet streaming to high-definition Blu-ray Discs from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. AVS is also compatible with various operating systems, including Windows from Microsoft, macOS from Apple Inc., and Linux from Red Hat, Canonical, and SUSE. The format has gained significant traction in China, with many Chinese companies, such as Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group, and Baidu, adopting AVS for their video streaming services, including Tencent Video, Youku Tudou, and iQIYI.

History

The development of AVS began in 2002, with the establishment of the Audio Video Coding Standard Workgroup of China (AVS Workgroup), which brought together experts from Chinese academia, industry, and government, including Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and China Central Television. The first version of the AVS standard, AVS1, was released in 2005, and it was primarily used for DVD and digital television applications from Philips, Thomson, and Mitsubishi Electric. In 2010, the AVS2 standard was released, which offered improved compression efficiency and support for HD video from BBC, CNN, and NHK. The latest version, AVS3, was released in 2016, and it provides even better compression efficiency and support for 4K resolution and High Dynamic Range (HDR) from Fox Sports, ESPN, and Sky Sports.

Technical Details

AVS uses a combination of discrete cosine transform (DCT) and integer transform to compress video data, similar to other video compression standards like H.264 from Nokia, Apple Inc., and Microsoft, and VP9 from Google. The standard also employs advanced techniques, such as motion compensation and entropy coding, to reduce the bitrate while maintaining video quality, similar to HEVC from Samsung, LG Electronics, and Sony. AVS supports a range of chroma subsampling formats, including 4:2:0 and 4:4:4, and it can handle various frame rates, from 24fps to 120fps, making it suitable for applications like cinema, sports broadcasting, and video conferencing from Zoom Video Communications, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams.

Features and Capabilities

AVS offers several features and capabilities that make it an attractive choice for video compression, including support for scalable video coding (SVC), which allows for efficient transmission of video over IP networks from AT&T, Verizon Communications, and Comcast. The standard also supports error resilience and error concealment, which enable robust transmission of video over wireless networks from China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. Additionally, AVS provides support for digital rights management (DRM), which allows content providers to protect their intellectual property, similar to HDCP from Intel, IBM, and Cisco Systems. AVS is also designed to be compatible with various video encoding and decoding hardware and software, including GPUs from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel, and DSPs from Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and STMicroelectronics.

Applications and Adoption

AVS has been widely adopted in China for various applications, including digital television, DVD players, and set-top boxes from Samsung, LG Electronics, and Sony. The standard is also used in video streaming services, such as Tencent Video, Youku Tudou, and iQIYI, which offer a range of content, including movies, TV shows, and live sports from NFL, NBA, and MLB. AVS is also used in video surveillance systems, which require efficient compression and transmission of video data over IP networks from Hikvision, Dahua Technology, and Axis Communications. Furthermore, AVS is used in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications, which require high-quality video compression and low latency, similar to Google Daydream, Samsung Gear VR, and Oculus Rift.

Comparison to Other Formats

AVS is often compared to other video compression standards, such as H.264 from Nokia, Apple Inc., and Microsoft, and HEVC from Samsung, LG Electronics, and Sony. While AVS offers similar compression efficiency to these standards, it has the advantage of being an open standard, which allows for widespread adoption and implementation, similar to VP9 from Google. Additionally, AVS is designed to be more efficient in terms of computational requirements, making it suitable for a wide range of applications, from low-power mobile devices to high-performance servers from HP, Dell, and Lenovo. However, AVS may not be as widely supported as other standards, such as H.264 and HEVC, which are more established in the industry, with support from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube. Overall, AVS is a viable alternative to other video compression standards, offering a unique combination of compression efficiency, computational efficiency, and flexibility, making it suitable for a wide range of applications, from consumer electronics to industrial automation from Siemens, GE Appliances, and Whirlpool Corporation.

Category:Video compression formats