Tech Tip: H.264

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1 November 2012 Technical Tips

H.264 is also known as MPEG4 part 10 or AVC (Advanced Video Coding). H.264 is a codec that can achieve relatively high quality video at a low bit rate.

It has become very popular because of the reduction of bandwidth needed to transmit high frame rate video over networks and the reduction of storage needed. H.264 therefore adds huge cost saving to surveillance systems.

H.264 is the most common standard for video compression and is best known for blu-ray disks, HDTV broadcast and Internet video such as YouTube.

Benefits of H.264 compression:

* Less bandwidth required, if MJEPG cameras used 100% of bandwidth available then MPEG4 would use 60% and H.264 as little as 20% of the bandwidth.

* Allows more cameras, higher quality video and faster frame rates.

* Best for remote monitoring.

* Reduction in storage costs.

In our next Tech Tip we will deal with the factors that influence the bandwidth using H.264 and give some tips on the most efficient settings for H.264.

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Tech Tip: H.264

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