While researching my State of the Codec Market article for the 2025 Streaming Media Sourcebook, I stumbled upon an intriguing report from LexisNexis that sheds light on the patent ownership landscape for VVC and HEVC (link to report). For me, the report helped answer two critical questions:
- Will VVC be the next codec implemented on Smart TVs?
- Will AOMedia companies actively suppress VVC’s growth?
Let’s break it down.
Will VVC Be the Next Codec Implemented on Smart TVs?
The report highlighted that Smart TV leaders like Samsung, LG, and Sony collectively hold a substantial share of VVC-related patents (see patent list below the article). Combined with their dominant 60.8% share of the Smart TV market, the odds of VVC adoption in this space are significant. Here’s a closer look:
Smart TV Vendor | VVC Patent Ownership (%) |
Smart TV Market Share (%) |
---|---|---|
Samsung | 4.96 | 31.9 |
LG Electronics | 5.68 | 16.5 |
Sony | 2.45 | 7.1 |
Panasonic | 1.60 | 5.3 |
Total | 14.69 | 60.8 |
These companies have the technical investment (patents) and the market control to drive VVC adoption. While they might not rush to replace HEVC, their substantial stakes in VVC make it a likely candidate for inclusion in next-gen Smart TVs.
Will AOMedia Companies Actively Attempt to Suppress VVC?
Interestingly, the report reveals that several major AOMedia members—including Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Samsung—own a combined 12.41% of VVC patents. Like the old song says, things that make you go hmmm.
AOMedia Member | VVC Patent Ownership (%) |
Role in AOMedia |
---|---|---|
Alphabet (Google) | 1.85 | Founding Member |
Intel | 1.01 | Founding Member |
Microsoft | 0.97 | Founding Member |
Samsung | 4.96 | Contributing Member |
MediaTek | 3.62 | Contributing Member |
Total | 12.41 |
From this data, it’s clear that the AOMedia members listed in the table stand to make far more revenue if VVC succeeds than if it doesn’t, and certainly far more than they will ever make from AV1. How might this financial stake influence VVC adoption?
Intel, of course, has already announced VVC support in its Lunar Lake CPUs, and added decoding support for the chipset in FFmpeg. MediaTek was one of the earliest adopters of VVC, with decode available for smart TVs in its Pentonic series.
Looking back at HEVC, according to the same report, Google owns roughly 2% of HEVC patents, which might explain its belated decision to support HEVC playback in Chrome. Otherwise, Samsung and Microsoft’s financial stakes in VVC patents strongly position them to support the codec despite their AOMedia ties.
The bottom line is that when you’re predicting the future of codec adoption, at least one avenue of analysis should follow the money. In this case, it makes the potential for VVC adoption seem much more positive.
For more insights, stay tuned for my full State of the Codec Market article, where I’ll dive even deeper into these dynamics. Coming in the Streaming Media Sourcebook in the April 2025 timeframe.
