The ITU, ISO, and IEC have issued a joint call for proposals for a next-generation video-coding standard scheduled for development by 2029. The initiative aims to surpass the performance of the current VVC standard, with initial evaluation of proposed compression technologies set for January 2027.
This initiative signals the start of the post-VVC era before VVC has achieved mass-market saturation. For engineers and strategists, it establishes the R&D roadmap for the next decade, specifically targeting the limitations of current standards in handling AI-generated content and low-latency XR applications. While VVC focuses on 4K/8K efficiency, this next generation is expected to integrate neural-network-based tools more deeply into the signal-processing chain. Watch for the January 2027 evaluation results to see if AI-native coding tools can finally deliver the rumored 30-50% efficiency gains over traditional block-based compression architectures.
The push for a 2029 standard arrives as the industry grapples with fragmented adoption of current technologies. While VVC (H.266) was finalized in 2020, production deployment remains at roughly 4% as of March 2026, per StreamingMedia reporting. High licensing costs and a lack of 'killer apps' beyond 8K have slowed VVC compared to the royalty-free AV1, which has achieved a projected 57% reach in 2026 due to aggressive support from Meta, Netflix, and YouTube. Access Advance recently moved to mitigate these headwinds by acquiring Via-LA's patent pools in late 2026 to simplify the licensing landscape.
Simultaneously, the Alliance for Open Media finalized its AV2 specification in May 2026, promising 30% bitrate savings over AV1. Per AOMedia, AV2 reached version 1.0.0 on May 28, 2026, and is already seeing hardware IP support from vendors like Allegro DVT and VeriSilicon. The ITU/ISO/IEC effort must therefore compete not only with the established H.264/H.265 legacy but also with a rapidly maturing open-source ecosystem that hit its next-gen milestone three years ahead of the JVET's 2029 target.
Beyond traditional human-viewable video, MPEG is pivoting toward specialized use cases. At its 153rd meeting in early 2026, the Video Coding for Machines (ISO/IEC 23888-2) standard progressed to Draft International Standard status. This shift reflects a broader industry trend where compression is increasingly optimized for AI tasks like object detection rather than just human perception. The current call for proposals explicitly incorporates these AI-enabled workflows, seeking a unified architecture that can serve both machine vision and premium 8K consumer experiences.
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