Newer televisions support 4K video via HEVC, though these TVs have limited 4K content. MORE: Where can you get 4K video? Can I watch HEVC content now? Other companies may support that, or possibly both 4K codecs. For instance, Google has announced its own 4K codec, called VP9, that will be used with YouTube. The new Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone, for example, supports HEVC to shoot 4K video.īut that doesn't mean all mobile devices will eventually support HEVC. Most current cellphones and tablets don't have hardware compatible with HEVC, but some new devices are starting to support it. Though they aren't broadcasting in 4K yet, DirecTV and Comcast's Xfinity will have 4K apps to stream video over the Internet to Samsung televisions. But that likely won't happen for several years, if and when they broadcast in 4K. Individual cable companies will have to decide when to change both the data they are sending and the receiver to decode it to HEVC. Streaming service M-Go has announced it will be offering 4K video via HEVC soon, including via an app for Samsung televisions.

Amazon hasn't announced when it will offer streams or downloads of these videos as 4K via Amazon Prime Instant Video, though Samsung is the first partner that will have 4K-capable Amazon Prime Instant Video on its televisions. The company also has partnered with several studios for 4K streaming using HEVC, including Warner Bros., Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox and Discovery. Though they haven't mentioned Netflix deals, both Panasonic and Toshiba have announced that their new 4K TVs willalso support HEVC.Īmazon has been filming all of its original content, such as political comedy 'Alpha House,' in 4K. New televisions coming this year from LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio will support HEVC and will be able to stream 4K video from Netflix. Netflix has already begun using HEVC to stream 4K content to the few 4K TVs equipped to decode HEVC. Each service will have to decide if it will send data using HEVC/H.265 instead of MPEG-4/H.264 or MPEG-2. Credit: Vcodex) What content will use HEVC? (Image credit: The same video rate encoded at 420kbps in H.264 (left) and HEVC (right).

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