The Next Frontier For MPEG-5 LCEVC: From HDR and Immersive Video to the Metaverse

In 2021, the newest MPEG standard was published as MPEG-5 low complexity enhancement video coding (LCEVC). Contrary to typical video codecs, LCEVC is an enhancement codec, meaning it works in combination with other codecs, to produce a more efficiently compressed video. Thanks to its simplified architecture, it is designed to be deployed as a software enhancer, which uses hardware blocks more efficiently. Despite being relatively new, it has already been adopted for a major next-gen television system (TV 3.0 in Brazil) and is being deployed across a full spectrum of applications, from broadcast to broadband. In this article we are focusing on future applications of LCEVC, from high dynamic range, 8K, and immersive video to metaverse, explaining how this new standard can make a positive impact on these applications.