Impact of packet loss on 4K UHD video for portable devices

Ultra High Definition (UHD) video streaming to portable devices has become topical. Two standardized codecs are current, H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) and the more recent High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). This paper compares the two codecs’ robustness to packet loss, after making allowances for relative coding gain. A significant finding from the comparison is that the H.264/AVC codec is less impacted by packet loss than HEVC, despite their differing coding efficiencies and including at low levels of packet loss. The results will be especially relevant to those designing portable devices with 4K UHD video display capability, allowing them to estimate the level of error concealment necessary. The paper also includes the results of HEVC compressed UHD video streaming over an IEEE 802.11ad wireless link operating at 60 GHz as a pointer to future performance in an error-prone channel.