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Monday, April 23, 2018

How to Play 4K HEVC on Mac/Windows/ UHD TV?

4K is a big thing to TVs, and now 4K has become the leader in the market. However, the video with 4K resolution will takes up tons of storage space, and a considerable amount of bandwidth is required. So here comes the new technology - HEVC, aka H.265, giving you a way to store, transfer, share the 4K video easily.

4k hevc

What is HEVC codec?

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), or H.265, is a video compression standard designed to substantially improve coding efficiency when compared to its precedent, the Advanced Video Coding (AVC), or H.264. HEVC promises a 50% storage reduction as its algorithm uses efficient coding by encoding video at the lowest possible bit rate while maintaining a high image quality level. This is a big deal to 4K video.

What is 4K HEVC?

4K HEVC is 4K UHD video encoded with HEVC codec, which is to offer the same level of picture quality as AVC (h.264), but with better compression, so there is less data to deal with. To put that another way, 4K HEVC enables a video to be compressed into a file of half size, or half the bit rate of H.264, but in same high quality. Although 4K HEVC is not ubiqutious, but it's happening - 4K Blu-rays are encoded in HEVC, MacOS High Sierra has wide compatibility of HEVC, Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate | for Mac gives you a way to switch AVC to HEVC for saving more strage space, and makes 4K HEVC playable on more devices.

But precisely owing to 4K HEVC is on the half way, the video compatibility may stop you from playing 4K HEVC on TVs, desktops or mobiles freely. Now, this article will show you the advantages and disadvantages of 4K HEVC, give you a reference for the minimum hardware for 4K HEVC playback on Mac and Windows and guide you how to play 4K HEVC, even at 60fps on TVs.

Pro of 4K HEVC:

4K Ultra HD (UHD) provides four times the pixel resolution of HDTV with 60Hz frame rate for smooth motion and 10-bit colour for a stunningly realistic viewing experience with striking visual details. And compared with H.264 codec 4K videos, the HEVC 4K takes up less, approximately 50% storage space, which means only half data are needed when streaming or downloading 4K HEVC videos. 

Cons of 4K HEVC:

On the other side, 4K HEVC is not so widely compatible as 4K H.264,  the overwhelming majority of old desktops and mobiles don't support 4K HEVC at all. Besides, HEVC decoding and encoding is so slow without hardware acceleration. Thus 4K videos choppy or stuttering happens frequently when playing on Mac/Windows without hardware acceleration decoding support.

How to Make 4K HEVC Playable on Mac/Windows/TVs?

To have a better experience for enjoying 4K HEVC on your TVs, iDevices, computers, or other monitors, if only you have got a super assistant in your hand. Why you need a helper for watching 4K HEVC videos? To be frank, no computer has a big enough monitor for 4K UHD video playback except the new 4K Retina 21.5-inch iMac and the 5K Retina 27 inch iMac. Even if you're able to play 4K video on Mac and Windows computer, the video itself has been downscaled in the background. More and more smarphone, TVs will add support for 4K HEVC video playback in the future, but not now.

A 4K HEVC player & converter is required, here I will share Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate (review) with you after testing a lot of 4K HEVC players. This software not only works as a 4K HEVC decoding software and allows you to play the video, but also as a professional 4K HEVC converter. With it, you can downscale 4K HEVC to 1080p, upscale 720p, 1080p to 4K HEVC, you also can convert HEVC 4K to H.264 video with SD/HD/4K resolution as you like.

Moreoever, you can customize video parameter like video audio codec, resolution, frame rate, bit rate, channels according to your needs. Below, I will show you how to transcode 4K HEVC for playback on your Mac, computers, and TVs on Windows. If you are Mac users, you can download the Mac version, its Mac version are the same operating procedures.

How to transcode 4K HEVC for playback on your Mac, computers, and TVs

Step 1: Load video files (h.265/hevc videos included)

Drag your files into this H.265 HEVC Video Converter, with "Add video"; you can load them with individual clips, or with "Add from folder"; you can import them with a complete folder. Batch conversion is also available.

HEVC Converter Ultimate

Step 2. How to encode or decode H.265/HEVC footage on Windows PC?

You can encode common video to H.265 mp4 video or H.265 mp4 HD video, you can find those two output formats under "Common Video" or "HD Video" main category respectively. Besides encoding common video to H.265, the program also has the capability to encode Blu-ray/DVD disc to H.265 MP4/H.265 MKV for storage with much small file size.
As for decoding H.265, you can easily decode H.265 video to various common file formats, devices(iPhone X, iPhone8/8p/7/7p/6/6p, Samung Galaxy Note 8, iPad Pro, Macbook) preset profile formats or video editing program best favorable editing codec from "Format" drop-down list.
If you want to output TV supported video formats, you can navigate your cursor to TVs category and select optimized device presets from its submenu, like Panasonic TV, Sony TV, and more.

HEVC H265 Converter preset

Step 3. Convert H.265 HEVC videos

Finally, don't forget to hit the "Convert"; on the main interface to finish your preparation work and get start. Just enjoy your H.265/HEVC videos!