Benchmarks: H.264 VS. H.265 (Image Quality & Size)

Lower image quality in a smaller package.

Earlier this year, we posted a handpicked benchmark from Google’s conference, which displayed the advantages of VP9 versus H.264.

Now, the guys at ExtremeTech decided to compare H.265 to H.264 and see what the next generation video is all about. Not only that, but they were kind enough to provide with original PNG images (instead of JPG files that were posted in the article) and here are the results:

Now, this is where things get interesting: while H.264 provides a sharper image, it does so in a pretty insefficeint manner when compared to H.265.

In fact, as you can see in the graph above, H.265 is able to achieve similar results (quality vise) in a much smaller package.

So does that mean that we will start seeing lower quality videos in the long run? For streaming, probably but when it comes to encoding videos using your own PC, you could simply pump up the H.265 quality and have H.264 like images in a similar sized package.

An extreme case of 8 bit vs. 10 bit

10 bit vs. 8 bit in a video

In addition to that, H.265 is much more than just compression, it supports a wider color gamut (10 bit vs. 8 bit), super high resolutions and more.

So what’s next for the video encoders? A battle for survival between VP9 and H.265 and we can’t wait to see how one compares to another in the near future. And if you are interested in a much more detailed analysis, check the original source.

[Dice Picture Source: Ronm Art Blog]