Milestone: H.265 Not Ready For Prime Time

By: Brian Karas, Published on Dec 14, 2016

Hype for H.265 has been growing, but Milestone is recommending restraint, despite supporting H.265.

In this note, we examine Milestone's position on H.265, and what the company says is holding back H.265 adoption, contrasting it to recent moves by Dahua and Hikvision.

**** *** *.*** *** been *******, *** ********* is ************ *********, ******* supporting *.***.

** **** ****, ** ******* Milestone's ******** ** *.***, and **** *** ******* says ** ******* **** H.265 ********, *********** ** to ****** ***** ** Dahua *** *********.

[***************]

Milestone's *.*** ********

********* *** ***** *.*** to ******** ****** *** Corporate, *** ** * recent**** **** ** *********** formats ********* ****:

...** [*.***] “***** *** prime ****?" ** ***** not.

*** ***** **** ** to ***:

*.*** ** *** ********* showing * ***** *********** in ******* *** ********* but **** **** ****** increase ** *** ***** is ******* ********.

*.*** ***** ****** *** far more ******** **** **** *.***.

IPVM ***** **** ********* ** *.***

** ******** ** *** ***** ********, *.*** ***** *** significant ******** ** ******** including:

**** ** ***** *******
********* ******* ** ******* for ******** *.*** *****
**** ** ********* ******* when ******** ** *.*** smart ******.

***** ******* ******* ** make *.*** ***-********** *** security ************.

H.265 ******** ******** ** ********

*** ****** ******* ** *********'********* ***** ************** ********-*********** ******** ** H.265 ***** ******* (*** the ******** ** ******** that ******* *.***), *********** ********** ***** **********. ********* ** *********, H.265 ******** ** ******** still ***** * ******* toll **** *.*** ********, but ** **** ***** for ~*-** ** **** streams ** ** ******* vs. ***** ******** ** software *****.

Camera ************* ********* *.***

* ****** ** *************, in ********** ********* *** Dahua, **** ***** ** promote *.*** **** ******* in ***** ********. ***** ********* * *************** of *.*** **** ********, *** ********* *** revised ************* ****-*.*** ******** *** ** *** ******* H.265+ ** "**** ** stay" [**** ** ****** available], **** *** ********* distinction **** ********* ** advocating Smart *.***, *** *** 'standard' *.***. **** ***** as *** ********** **** Ambarella *** ********* *** *.*** encoding ******* ** ***** chipsets, ******** ****** ************* to *** *.*** *********** for ****, *** ** not ****** ** ****** market ****** *** *.***.

Smart *.***

*** **** *** *.*** manufacturers *** ******* ****** is ** *** / feature ******* **** *.***+ smart ******. ** *** this ** * ******** to *** ******* ** Smart *.***. '*******' / 'standard'. *.***, ******* ***** codec *******, ******** ****** with ***** *.***.

** *** ******** **** Smart *.*** *** ******* with ***** *.*** *** the ********* ****** ** both *** ******** ************ low, **** **** ******* savings *** **** ******** for **** ************, ********** considering *.***'* ***** *********.

H.265 *******

*.*** *** ** ****** only ** ***** ********* as *** "**** *** thing" *********** ******, *** similarly ** ******** ** see * ***** ***** in *** ********* ******. It ** **** ****** to ******** ** ***** as * ****** **** encoding ****** ** *******, with ***** ******* ****** for *.*** ***** ******, which **** *** **** primary ******** ** *.*** (bandwidth/storage *******) *** **** of *** ******* ********* (limited *******, ********* ****** overhead).

Comments (4)

Undisclosed #1

IPVMU Certified | 12/14/16 09:19pm

My thoughts on the 3 hurdles:

Lack of ONVIF support

Agreed, the biggest hurdle is the interoperability. Reliable VMS Direct driver support will be a long time coming. ONVIF taking their time, writing more Access Control Profiles before h.265 extensions etc.

Increased demands on clients for decoding H.265 video

Reasonably priced video cards (~$100) with HEVC hardware decoding are starting to appear. When supported by the client software, this should narrow the performance gap significantly.

Lack of bandwidth savings when compared to H.264 smart CODEC

But as you allude, h.265+ is the option to compare, and it is looking pretty good. The last Wisestream 265 vs 264 1080p comparison was showing 40% reduction.

It is more likely to continue to exist as a rarely used encoding option in cameras...

Maybe not that rare.

Although, true VMS interoperability approaching h.264 levels will take a couple of years or more, there are an enourmous number of kit product sold today from Dahua/Hik and Hanwha, not to mention the Longse's of the world with h.265.

These propreitery implementations sidestep the driver issue, and should lead to widespread usage in matched camera/recorder systems in 2017.

How big is the Dahua/Hik/Samsung/Longse kit market compared to all sales, in terms of overall units? Dunno.

Eddie Perry

12/14/16 11:43pm

Yeah I agree to certain extent most of the H265 codecs or more specifically H265 software decoding, is really iffy right now. although I will say if video cards/processors get cheaper and the software decoding get ironed out in a year I could see it being a thing.

then again aside from the low end market even some of higher end are starting to push H265 like Panasonic new extreme series that are going to come out Q1 next year supposedly. Doubt Panasonic will start a H265 trend in the higher end markets though....

Undisclosed Integrator #2

In reply to Eddie Perry | 12/16/16 02:56am

To be fair Panasonic does still have some high end accounts that will benefit from H.265 w/smart codecs. Even if it requires a closed ecosystem with WJ-NX400 and ASC970 or ASM200 end to end to see the benefit there are surprisingly large companies that will see the benefits, if real.

Brian Karas

IPVM | 12/18/16 02:41pm

Update: added section on H.265 hardware decoding in latest XProtect client.

H.265 Hardware Decoding In XProtect

The latest version of Milestone's XProtect Smart Client supports hardware-accelerated decoding of H.265 video streams (for the versions of XProtect that support H.265), on QuickSync compatible Intel processors. According to Milestone, H.265 decoding in hardware still takes a greater toll than H.264 decoding, but it does allow for ~3-5x as many streams to be handled vs. doing decoding in software alone.

Login to read this IPVM report.

Related Reports

Dahua USA Admits Thermal Solutions "Qualify As Medical Devices" on Jul 02, 2020

Dahua USA has issued a press release admitting a controversial point in the industry but an obvious one to the US FDA, that the thermal temperature...

ADT: 'Fever' Cameras Are Medical Devices on Jun 15, 2020

While many manufacturers are avoiding admitting their 'fever' cameras are medical devices, ADT has taken a strong and clear position. ADT has...

Manufacturers Not Interested in October 2020 ISC West Show on Apr 13, 2020

Manufacturers overwhelmingly say they are not interested in going to the twice 'postponed' ICS West now tentatively rescheduled for October...

Pivot3 Mass Layoffs on Mar 27, 2020

Pivot3 has conducted mass layoffs, the culmination of grand hopes, a quarter of a billion dollars in VC funding, and multiple failures to gain...

Video Analytics 101 on Mar 16, 2020

This guide teaches the fundamentals of video surveillance analytics. Inside we cover: Why Use Video Analytics Video Analytics Warning Where...

Hikvision AI Training In Xinjiang Paramilitary Base, Now Denies on Mar 10, 2020

Hikvision has been listing AI training in a Xinjiang paramilitary base that bans Uyghurs from participating. However, Hikvision is now denying it...

Hikvision Temperature Screening Tested on May 20, 2020

Hikvision has ramped up the promotion of its 'temperature screening' system, including their salespeople arguing for no blackbody needed. But how...

Trade Groups Request NDAA Blacklist Delay Citing Coronavirus on Apr 06, 2020

Two trade groups representing government contractors have asked Congress to delay implementation of the NDAA's 'blacklist' clause from this August...

UK ICO Approves Unconsented Facial Recognition At Security Conferences on Feb 05, 2020

The UK's data protection agency has declined IPVM's GDPR complaint against Dahua for using face recognition without consent at IFSEC last year,...

Fever Camera Sales From Integrators Surveyed on Jun 01, 2020

Fever cameras are the hottest trend in video surveillance currently but how much are integrators selling them? 220 integrators answered the...

Most Recent Industry Reports

Remove Dahua and Hikvision Equipment "Immediately" Or Else Banned From US Government Contracts on Jul 10, 2020

The US government has directed contractors to remove covered equipment, such as Dahua, Hikvision, and Huawei Hisilicon products, "immediately." If...

ZeroEyes Presents Firearm Detection Video Analytics on Jul 09, 2020

ZeroEyes presented its Firearm detection Video Analytics system at the May 2020 IPVM Startups show. A 30-minute video from ZeroEyes...

Directory of 162 "Fever" Camera Suppliers on Jul 09, 2020

This directory provides a list of "Fever" scanning thermal camera providers to help you see and research what options are available. There are...

Clinton Public View Monitor (PVM) Mask Detection Tested on Jul 09, 2020

Face mask detection, or more specifically not wearing one, is expanding amidst the pandemic. Clinton Electronics has added this capability to their...