ITU and ISO issue formal call for post-VVC video standard

This marks the official start of the next decadal codec cycle, aiming to solve the bandwidth-to-quality bottleneck for emerging 8K and XR applications. While VVC is still in the early stages of hardware adoption, this move ensures the standards roadmap keeps pace with AI-driven content processing. For the ecosystem, it signals a shift toward codecs that are optimized not just for human eyes, but for machine vision tasks. Streaming strategists must now track whether this project—often referred to as H.267—can avoid the fragmented patent licensing issues that slowed the adoption of its predecessors, HEVC and VVC. Watch for the first test model selections in late 2027.

The formal call for proposals follows the conclusion of the Enhanced Compression Model (ECM) exploration. Per Ofinno in July 2026, the final ECM 20.0 release demonstrated approximately 28% average bitrate savings over VVC reference software, providing a technical baseline for proponents. This next-generation effort, colloquially known as H.267, enters a market where VVC adoption remains specialized. While VVC was approved as a full ATSC 3.0 standard in July 2025, it remains an optional tool rather than a baseline, as reported by Streaming Media in March 2026.

Licensing and hardware support continue to dictate the pace of these transitions. Per Business Research Insights in July 2026, roughly 65% of existing consumer devices still lack the dedicated silicon required for advanced codecs like VVC, which requires hardware-level acceleration rather than software updates. Meanwhile, the competing royalty-free AV1 codec has gained significant ground; Sisvel reported in July 2025 that its AV1 patent pool had already licensed 50% of the finished-product device market.

Parallel developments in AI-native compression are also influencing the JVET roadmap. In October 2025, InterDigital acquired deep-learning compression startup Deep Render, signaling a consolidated industry push to integrate neural-network-based tools into standard architectures. Current JVET explorations in Neural Network-Based Video Coding (NNVC) reached version 18 in mid-2026, showcasing real-time AI codec demonstrations on consumer hardware. These technical tracks suggest the 2029 standard will likely be a hybrid, combining traditional block-based coding with selective AI-driven in-loop filters to manage the high computational and energy demands of mobile devices.