Microsoft joins HEVC Advance Patent Pool
HEVC high-efficiency video coding technology is a relatively new video compression technology. Compared with traditional video compression technology, it can provide up to a 50% compression rate, but HEVC or H.265 is not a free compression technology. On the contrary, the technology developer MPEG Alliance has a strong patent pool. At present, there are more than 16,500 HEVC related patents and it is still growing. Although Microsoft supports the HEVC codec in Windows 10 and Windows 11, sometimes users may need to pay for it.
The latest news is that Access Advance, an independent licensing authority, announced that Microsoft has become a Licensor and Licensee of the HEVC Advance Patent Pool, which means that Microsoft can now use 16,500+ global patents in the patent pool for free.
“We are very pleased to welcome Microsoft, one of the world’s most recognized and respected companies and a leader in innovation, to our HEVC Advance program,” said Access Advance CEO Peter Moller. “Microsoft becoming a licensee, as well as a licensor making their H.265/HEVC essential patents available for license through the HEVC Advance Patent Pool, further demonstrates the value of our HEVC Advance pool license.”
It is not yet clear what purpose Microsoft has joined the HEVC patent pool, but perhaps in the future Windows 10/11 users can use HEVC technology for free without having to pay for a codec.
