The Looming Codec Crisis: Why Your Next Device Might Skip HEVC – and What It Means for You
Are you noticing your media library taking up more space? Or perhaps experiencing hiccups when playing certain video files? The reason might be more complex than a full hard drive. A quiet shift is happening in the tech world, with major manufacturers increasingly disabling hardware support for the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) codec.This isn’t just a technical detail; it impacts your video playback, storage needs, and possibly, your wallet. Let’s break down what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what you can do about it.
The Rising Cost of Video Compression
for years, HEVC has been touted as the future of video compression, offering significantly smaller file sizes with comparable quality to older codecs like H.264. However, the licensing landscape surrounding HEVC is becoming increasingly problematic. The organizations managing HEVC patents – Access Advance and VIA Licensing Alliance - are raising royalty rates.
As announced in July 2025, royalty rates for HEVC are increasing from $0.20 to $0.24 per unit for shipments exceeding 100,001 in the United States ( https://accessadvance.com/2025/07/21/access-advance-announces-hevc-advance-and-vvc-advance-pricing-through-2030/ and https://via-la.com/licensing-programs/hevc-vvc/#license-fees). Consider this: in Q3 2025 alone,HP shipped 15,002,000 laptops and desktops,and Dell moved 10,166,000 units (https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-10-16-gartner-says-worldwide-pc-shipments-grew-8-percent-in-third-quarter-of-2025). These seemingly small per-unit increases quickly add up to ample costs for manufacturers.
Why OEMs Are Dropping HEVC Support
Facing these rising costs, some Original equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are choosing to disable HEVC hardware decoding in their devices. This means your device will rely on software decoding, which is more taxing on the processor and can lead to:
* Reduced Battery Life: Software decoding consumes more power.
* Performance Issues: Expect potential stuttering or lag when playing HEVC content.
* Increased CPU Load: Your processor has to work harder, potentially impacting other tasks.
Synology,a leading NAS (Network Attached Storage) provider,took a proactive step in 2024,announcing the end of HEVC,H.264/AVC, and VCI transcoding support on its platforms (https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/status/eol-video-codec-support). Their reasoning? widespread codec support on end-user devices means server-side transcoding is becoming less necessary.
Synology explained that removing this feature “reduces needless resource usage on the server and significantly improves media processing efficiency.” This is especially beneficial in environments with manny users.
The User Impact: Confusion and Frustration
While the technical rationale is understandable, removing features that users have come to expect is causing concern. Many feel frustrated, especially considering the price point of these devices. As one Redditor pointed out, disabling HEVC on “Pro” level machines (often $800+) feels notably jarring, given the codec’s professional