Subjective quality assessment of H.265 versus H.264 Video Coding for High-Definition Video Systems

This paper gives our findings on subjective assessment of H.265 versus H.264 Video Coding for High-Definition Video Systems. For the purposes of our research a database consisting of 4 original HD video sequences was prepared with 30 degraded HD video sequences each, with various compression steps both in H.265/HEVC and H.264/AVC. The subjective assessment was conducted in one research laboratory in Croatia. The aim of this paper is to compare results obtained for H.265 versus H.264 Video Coding and to assess the performance of both standards. This assessment will help in the future decision on the coding standard that is going to be used in DVB-T2 networks in Croatia. Additionally, a status of the preparation activities for the allocation of the second digital dividend band in Croatia is given and further developments are described.