H.264
From mobile to broadcast and everywhere in between
Leverage your video and audio content across the entire bandwidth spectrum — from 3G (mobile phone) to HD (broadcast) and virtually everything in between — via subsets of the MPEG-4 standard supported in Adobe® Flash® Player 9 software and later, the Adobe AIR® runtime, and Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 software. These subsets are ISO/IEC 14496-10 (MPEG-4 part 10) for video, ISO/IEC 14496-3 (MPEG-4 part 3) for audio, and ISO/IEC 14496-12 (MPEG-4 part 12) for transporting other media files as part of the data stream.
Excellent quality at lower bit rates
The H.264 video codec delivers excellent-quality video. Its scalability enables author once, deliver anywhere workflows that take advantage of your current infrastructure and encoding investments. On2 VP6 is the highly efficient codec of choice in Flash Player 8 that is still supported by Flash Player 10 and Adobe Flash Lite® 3 software for mobile delivery, which relies exclusively on the VP6 video codec.
Supported profiles
The video streaming–related subsets of the MPEG-4 part 10 standard supported by Adobe Flash Platform technologies are:
- Baseline. Baseline is widely used in videoconferencing and mobile applications running on devices with limited computing power.
- Main Profile (MP). The original profile intended for broadcast and storage applications, MP has been largely overshadowed by the High Profile.
- High Profile (HiP). The primary profile for broadcast and disc storage applications, HiP is the profile adopted by both high-definition DVD formats: HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
- High 10 Profile (Hi10P). Hi10P increases the decoded picture precision of the High Profile to 10 bits per sample.
Encoding capabilities by profile (source: Wikipedia)
| Base | Main | High | High 10 | High 4:2:2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I and P slices | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| B slices | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| SI and SP slices | no | no | no | no | no |
| Multiple reference frames | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| In-loop deblocking filter | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| CAVLC entropy coding | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| CABAC entropy coding | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Flexible Macroblock Ordering (FMO) | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Arbitrary Slice Ordering (ASO) | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Redundant slices (RS) | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Interlaced coding (PicAFF, MBAFF) | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| 4:2:0 chroma format | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Monochrome video format (4:0:0) | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| 8-bit sample depth | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| 9- and 10-bit sample depth | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| 8x8 versus 4x4 transform adaptivity | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Quantization scaling matrices | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Separate Cb and Cr QP control | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
Video profiles in Flash
Flash technology is organized around three video profiles: LT, SD, and HD.
- Video LT. Mobile delivery via Flash Lite 3 (On2 VP6 codec only)
- Video SD. Standard-definition web video (On2 VP6 and H.264 codecs)
- Video HD. High-definition video (On2 VP6 and H.264)
Each profile is further organized into three levels:
| Level | Codec | Target resolution/data rate |
|---|---|---|
| LT level 1 | VP6 Mobile | (GSM) |
| LT level 2 | VP6 Mobile | (3G) |
| LT level 3 | VP6 Mobile | (3G-high) |
| SD level 1 | On2 VP6 and H.264 | 160x112 |
| SD level 2 | On2 VP6 and H.264 | 320x240 |
| SD level 3 | On2 VP6 and H.264 | 640x480 |
| HD level 1 | On2 VP6 and H.264 | 640x480 |
| HD level 2 | On2 VP6 and H.264 | 1,280x720 |
| HD level 3 | On2 VP6 and H.264 | 1,920x1,080 |
Typical frame rates range from 5 fps to 30 fps. Higher frame rates and screen resolutions require more computing power to play back. Flash Player 9 and later support hardware-accelerated full-screen video playback.
The powerful content creation tools in Adobe Creative Suite® 4 Production Premium software support output to these video profiles, streamlining the production and delivery process and making it even easier to reach the largest possible audience onscreen, online, and on device.
More formats, greater flexibility
Flash Player 9 and later also support the playback of formats derived from the MPEG-4 container such as MP4, M4A, MOV, MP4V, 3GP, and 3G2 if they contain H.264 video and/or HE-AAC audio.
Metadata
MPEG-4 and the open F4V file format support embedded metadata. Content providers can use this feature to tag their files to indicate duration, file size, format (codec), width, height, frames per second, data rate, duration, color depth, and other information related to video, audio, text, and rights ownership. Metadata can be used to help ensure files are decoded so that they are reproduced in an exact manner and to help track a file's origin, author, and copyright holder.
Licensing
The end-user license for Flash Player allows users to play back H.264 content for their own noncommercial use. Commercial applications of Flash Player to decode H.264 video may require a separate license. MPEG LA, an organization that offers users access to essential patents for standards-based technologies owned by many patent holders, handles licensing. MPEG LA provides these licenses as a convenience to save users the time and expense of negotiating individual licenses with multiple patent owners and paying separate royalty fees. The licenses offered by MPEG LA include patents essential to implementing H.264.
Usage categories that may require a license and involve royalty fees include advanced video coding products, title-by-title video, and subscription video among others. Most categories apply to commercial use and implementation, but some are more broad.
Licensing terms and an FAQ are available on the MPEG LA and Via Licensing websites. Send an e-mail to the Q&A department at qanda@mpegla.com for questions not addressed in the FAQ.
