HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec) was one of the most talked about topics at IBC this year, not only because it promises to reduce the data rate needed for high-quality video coding by 50 percent compared to the current state-of-the-art, but also because the new coding standard simply does not support interlacing.
"HEVC will, I hope, be one of the last nails in the coffin of interlace,” says Bruce Devlin, CTO at AmberFin. “It does not support interlacing since today all display devices and most capture devices inherently use progressive scanning. This is a good thing because it encourages everyone to start using more and more progressive techniques in their distribution operations."
However the professional content creation industry is still generating more 1080i material every year than progressive material. While this continues to be the case, good quality de-interlacing in the value chain will be vital for the success of HEVC in professional deployments.
