Beginning with software build 603, Viinex now supports HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding or H.265) and hardware acceleration.
The middleware facilitates the retrieval of encoded H.265 video from IP cameras and the creation of recordings at the same format. When it comes to WEB video streaming, there have been and continue to be some challenges with the H.265 codec. Nevertheless, H.265 has gained traction and is now widely utilized in video surveillance, particularly in hardware licensing, with IP cameras and NVRs. If you’re utilizing thick clients in your video management system, you can fully enjoy the benefits of HEVC.
However, if your focus lies with web browsers as clients, compatibility could potentially present some aforementioned challenges. Despite these obstacles, the transition has been ongoing, albeit at a slow pace. For instance, Apple, has supported H.265 on its devices since iOS11 and macOS High Sierra, and Chrome started to support H.265 at the end of 2022, but only if the hardware supports H.265. We’ve encountered that the H.265 codec isn’t as universally supported by various browsers as the H.264 codec, when it comes to video streaming (as of the date of this article). For comparison, consider the differences between H.264 and H.265. Therefore, we still believe that it is premature to assert that H.265 can entirely replace H.264. To address this, Viinex offers transcoding for web video streaming from H.265 to H.264, thus enhancing compatibility for our partners.
In alignment with our support for H.265 and in response to the need to transcode it to H.264 for web video streaming, Viinex has concurrently begun supporting GPU hardware acceleration for video decoding and encoding. Also, this beneficial functionality will be particularly advantageous for partners who wish to integrate video analytics through Viinex’s transport mechanism, as it facilitates access to raw video necessary for performing such analytics.