V-Nova SVP Fabio Murra discusses how licensing costs and commercial constraints are increasingly influencing UHD and HDR deployment strategies for streaming operators. He proposes MPEG-5 LCEVC as a solution to optimize costs and quality without requiring a wholesale codec migration.
The shift from engineering-led to business-led codec selection reflects a maturing market where patent litigation poses a direct threat to premium revenue tiers. By leveraging MPEG-5 LCEVC as an enhancement layer, operators can mitigate the financial and legal risks of proprietary formats while maintaining high visual quality. As global patent pools become more aggressive, this hybrid approach allows for rapid feature restoration or expansion without the delays of complete infrastructure overhauls. Watch for more streaming providers to adopt LCEVC-enhanced VP9 or AVC as a legal safe harbor when VVC licensing becomes a bottleneck for European operations.
The business-centric shift cited by Murra aligns with recent high-profile patent disputes that have impacted major streamers. In August 2026, Disney+ was forced to deactivate 4K UHD and HDR support for its Premium tier in Germany and 10 other European countries following a Unified Patent Court injunction secured by InterDigital regarding HEVC encoding patents. According to IP Fray and TechRadar reporting from early August 2026, Disney+ has begun a partial restoration of 4K quality using VP9 as an alternative technology, though HDR support remains largely unavailable in the affected regions due to ongoing litigation.
This legal volatility is not an isolated incident; it follows a pattern of intense enforcement by patent holders in European courts. Per Juve Patent and IPWatchdog, Amazon settled a global video technology dispute with Nokia in March 2025 after facing injunctions in Germany and an ITC import ban recommendation in the U.S. that targeted Fire TV devices and Prime Video software. These events confirm the strategic necessity of codec agility to prevent service downgrades that leave premium subscribers paying for features they cannot access.
On the broadcast side, Brazil's TV 3.0 initiative, branded as DTV+, serves as the primary proof point for the commercial viability of Murra's recommended tech stack. According to NAB and V-Nova reports from late 2025 and 2024, the Brazilian standard mandates LCEVC enhancement alongside VVC and MPEG-H audio. During the 2024 Olympics, Globo successfully demonstrated LCEVC-enhanced VVC feeds at 10 Mbps—significantly lower than standard VVC requirements—decoded on consumer TVs from Hisense and set-top boxes using Realtek silicon. This standardized deployment is expected to drive mass-market economies of scale ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
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