MPEG LA Introduces Patent Pool License for VVC Compression

MPEG LA
(Image credit: MPEG LA)

DENVER—MPEG LA, LLC has announced that the VVC Patent Portfolio License (“VVC License” or “License”) is now available. The joint license includes patents that are essential to the Versatile Video Coding (VVC), which is also known as H.266 and MPEG-I Part 3 standard.

“We commend these patent owners for stepping up in such a short time to establish this important license embracing all manner of VVC applications with a simplicity that the market can understand, and we welcome all VVC essential patent owners to join them,” said Larry Horn, President and CEO of MPEG LA. “Once again, MPEG LA’s VVC License demonstrates MPEG LA’s continued commitment to striking a balance between patent holders and implementers to make VVC widely available to everyone on the same reasonable, transparent and evenly applied terms consistent with what the market has come to expect of us. Now more than ever, the market for next generation video needs a pool license it can trust.”

VVC provides increased compression with significant bitrate reduction, giving consumers enhanced speed and efficiency in products that encode and decode video for Internet, television and mobile transmission, reception and use, the group said. 

VVC is capable of delivering 4K to 8K and higher resolution with High-Definition Television (HDTV), Ultra-High-Definition Television (UHD), High Dynamic Range (HDR) and omnidirectional 360° video.

The initial patent owners to MPEG LA’s VVC License are: b<>com; British Broadcasting Corporation; Digital Insights Inc.; FG Innovation Company Limited; Hanwha Techwin Co., Ltd.; Koninklijke KPN N.V.; Nippon Hoso Kyokai; Orange; Siemens Corp.; Tagivan II LLC; and Vidyo, Inc.

MPEG LA also noted that it encourages any party that believes it has patents that are essential to the VVC standard to submit them for an evaluation by MPEG LA’s patent experts. Interested VVC patent owners may request a copy of the terms and procedures governing patent submissions here.

The VVC Patent Portfolio License and a summary of the License terms may be obtained here.

George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.