Understanding Compression in Video Processing
Compressed and uncompressed video are two approaches to storing and transporting video, with different requirements for bandwidth, processing, latency, and image quality.
In professional media production, the choice is not necessarily one or the other.Uncompressed video is commonly used where high quality and very low latency are priorities, while compressed video can significantly reduce bandwidth requirements for contribution, remote production, cloud connectivity, and distribution.
What Is Compressed Video?
Compressed video uses a codec to reduce the amount of data required to represent a video signal. Compression works by removing or more efficiently representing redundant information within and between video frames, reducing bandwidth and storage requirements.
Common compression technologies used in professional media workflows include:
- H.264/AVC – widely used for streaming, contribution, and distribution.
- HEVC/H.265 – provides greater compression efficiency than H.264 and is suitable for high-quality HD, UHD/4K, and HDR workflows.
- JPEG 2000 – used in professional media applications requiring high image quality and relatively low latency.
- JPEG XS – a lightweight, very-low-latency codec designed for professional production workflows where high image quality and reduced bandwidth are required.
Depending on the codec and configuration, compression can be lossless, visually lossless, or lossy, creating different trade-offs between image quality, bitrate, latency, and processing requirements.