H.264/MPEG-4 AVC - Versions

Versions

Versions of the H.264/AVC standard include the following completed revisions, corrigenda, and amendments (dates are final approval dates in ITU-T, while final "International Standard" approval dates in ISO/IEC are somewhat different and slightly later in most cases). Each version represents changes relative to the next lower version that is integrated into the text. Bold faced versions are versions that include relatively major technical enhancements.

• Version 1: (May 2003) First approved version of H.264/AVC containing Baseline, Main, and Extended profiles.
• Version 2: (May 2004) Corrigendum containing various minor corrections.
• Version 3: (March 2005) Major addition to H.264/AVC containing the first amendment providing Fidelity Range Extensions (FRExt) containing High, High 10, High 4:2:2, and High 4:4:4 profiles.
• Version 4: (September 2005) Corrigendum containing various minor corrections and adding three aspect ratio indicators.
• Version 5: (June 2006) Amendment consisting of removal of prior High 4:4:4 profile (processed as a corrigendum in ISO/IEC).
• Version 6: (June 2006) Amendment consisting of minor extensions like extended-gamut color space support (bundled with above-mentioned aspect ratio indicators in ISO/IEC).
• Version 7: (April 2007) Amendment containing the addition of High 4:4:4 Predictive and four Intra-only profiles (High 10 Intra, High 4:2:2 Intra, High 4:4:4 Intra, and CAVLC 4:4:4 Intra)
• Version 8: (November 2007) Major addition to H.264/AVC containing the amendment for Scalable Video Coding (SVC) containing Scalable Baseline, Scalable High, and Scalable High Intra profiles.
• Version 9: (January 2009) Corrigendum containing minor corrections.
• Version 10: (March 2009) Amendment containing definition of a new profile (the Constrained Baseline profile) with only the common subset of capabilities supported in various previously specified profiles.
• Version 11: (March 2009) Major addition to H.264/AVC containing the amendment for Multiview Video Coding (MVC) extension, including the Multiview High profile.
• Version 12: (March 2010) Amendment containing definition of a new MVC profile (the Stereo High profile) for two-view video coding with support of interlaced coding tools and specifying an additional SEI message (the frame packing arrangement SEI message).
• Version 13: (March 2010) Corrigendum containing minor corrections.
• Version 14: (June 2011) Amendment specifying a new level (Level 5.2) supporting higher processing rates in terms of maximum macroblocks per second, and a new profile (the Progressive High profile) supporting only the frame coding tools of the previously specified High profile.
• Version 15: (June 2011) Corrigendum containing minor corrections.
• Version 16: (January 2012) Amendment containing definition of three new profiles intended primarily for real-time communication applications: the Constrained High, Scalable Constrained Baseline, and Scalable Constrained High profiles.