Tiers and Levels
The HEVC standard defines two tiers, Main and High, and thirteen levels. A level is a set of constraints for a bitstream. For levels below level 4 only the Main tier is allowed. The Main tier is a lower tier than the High tier. The tiers were made to deal with applications that differ in terms of their maximum bit rate. The Main tier was designed for most applications while the High tier was designed for very demanding applications. A decoder that conforms to a given tier/level is required to be capable of decoding all bitstreams that are encoded for that tier/level and for all lower tiers/levels.
| Level | Max luma sample rate (samples/s) |
Max luma picture size (samples) |
Max bit rate for Main and Main 10 profiles (kbit/s) | Example picture resolution @ highest frame rate (MaxDpbSize) Click here to hide/show additional examples |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main tier | High tier | ||||
| 1 | 552,960 | 36,864 | 128 | - | 128×96@33.7 (6) 176×144@15.0 (6) |
| 2 | 3,686,400 | 122,880 | 1,500 | - | 176×144@100.0 (16) 352×288@30.0 (6) |
| 2.1 | 7,372,800 | 245,760 | 3,000 | - | 352×288@60.0 (12) 640×360@30.0 (6) |
| 3 | 16,588,800 | 552,960 | 6,000 | - |
640×360@67.5 (12) 720×576@37.5 (8) 960×540@30.0 (6) |
| 3.1 | 33,177,600 | 983,040 | 10,000 | - |
720×576@75.0 (12) 960×540@60.0 (8) 1280×720@33.7 (6) |
| 4 | 66,846,720 | 2,228,224 | 12,000 | 30,000 |
1,280×720@68.0 (12) 1,920×1,080@32.0 (6) 2,048×1,080@30.0 (6) |
| 4.1 | 133,693,440 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
1,280×720@136.0 (12) 1,920×1,080@64.0 (6) 2,048×1,080@60.0 (6) |
|
| 5 | 267,386,880 | 8,912,896 | 25,000 | 100,000 |
1,920×1,080@128.0 (16) 3,840×2,160@32.0 (6) 4,096×2,160@30.0 (6) |
| 5.1 | 534,773,760 | 40,000 | 160,000 |
1,920×1,080@256.0 (16) 3,840×2,160@64.0 (6) 4,096×2,160@60.0 (6) |
|
| 5.2 | 1,069,547,520 | 60,000 | 240,000 |
1,920×1,080@300.0 (16) 3,840×2,160@128.0 (6) 4,096×2,160@120.0 (6) |
|
| 6 | 1,069,547,520 | 35,651,584 | 60,000 | 240,000 |
3,840×2,160@128.0 (16) 7,680×4,320@32.0 (6) 8,192×4,320@30.0 (6) |
| 6.1 | 2,139,095,040 | 120,000 | 480,000 |
3,840×2,160@256.0 (16) 7,680×4,320@64.0 (6) 8,192×4,320@60.0 (6) |
|
| 6.2 | 4,278,190,080 | 240,000 | 800,000 |
3,840×2,160@300.0 (16) 7,680×4,320@128.0 (6) 8,192×4,320@120.0 (6) |
|
- A The maximum frame rate supported by HEVC is 300 fps.
- B The MaxDpbSize is the maximum number of pictures in the decoded picture buffer.
Read more about this topic: High Efficiency Video Coding
Famous quotes containing the words tiers and/or levels:
“The opera house sparkled with tiers
And tiers of eyes, like mine enlarged by belladonna,”
—James Merrill (b. 1926)
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—Eva Perón (1919–1952)