Hardware Requirements for 4K HEVC Videos
When we talk about the fanciest family entertainment, we say 4K. When we talk about the 4K video, what 4K is? A 3840 x 2160 resolution video. You may not sensitive to the numbers, but remember, it’s quadruple the size to what we called “Full HD”, the 1920x1080 resolution.
So what HEVC codec plays its role in the 4K video play/ streaming? It’s the first video codec that supports up to 4096x2304 resolution natively. Without HEVC, we could not enjoy the 4K video today. For the video devices, four times the size means four times the workload and four times the computational complexities for our computer. If it’s the streaming video, the network efficiency will be toasted more than 16 times than it transfer a HD video.
Part 1. Minimum Hardware Requirements for 4K HEVC Video Playback
We need a solution. Fortunately, many people are working on their project to bring you the most advanced, fantastic video entertainment: Microsoft, NVIDIA, Intel, Apple & Google and many, many others, including us, try to bring you the best video enjoyment.
As mentioned above, the hardware requirement for playing 4K HEVC codec isn’t a joke, not all devices on your hand could handle this job. For example, when you try to edit a Gopro recording with Premiere Pro on an older computer, the HEVC videos won't import to Premiere at all. You must have:
- A desktop with Intel 6th Gen core (Skylake) or a better CPU
- A desktop with Athlon X4 835 (Carrizo) or a better APU
- An Apple device with A9(iPhone 6S) or better processor
- A desktop with a discrete video card which better than GTX 960
- An Android device which has Qualcomm 610/Helio X20/Kirin 950 or higher processor
- A smart TV with Amlogic S905 or Mstar 6A928 or better processor
For better enjoy the 4K 60fps videos, you may need a better configuration:
- If you want it played on your PC, the best solution is to have a GTX 1660 series or better graphic card, fully support HEVC main 10, and no other requirements to the rest of your hardware.
- An Apple iPhone 7/7plus and all IPod pro with newer model was fully supported the HEVC natively.
- Any Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series chip (and recent model) will able to play, record video in native 4K resolution, HEVC.
- A 2017 or later model smart TV will capable of 4K HEVC video tasks.
Part 2. Software to Handle 4K HEVC Videos
Not only the hardware side but will a software solution also take into the concern. For commercial purpose, on October 17, 2017, Microsoft removed HEVC decoding support from Windows 10 with the Version 1709 Fall Creators Update, which means we will need a proper video player to play HEVC, 60fps 4K videos.
There are mainstream video playback resolver that we can be easily reached. One of the most commonly used APP we are using to watch HEVC 4K video, is our web browsers. As the leader & top choose among all web browsers, Chrome surely supports HEVC codec player but the hidden trouble is, Chrome will eat great amount of your PC memories for 4K HEVC playback. Other than that, Google announced the full support to their AV1 codec and will vastly implement on google service in the future. As the product of its competitor, HEVC future application is somehow pessimistic.
Also, if we put our eyes on family streaming, Roku officially claims their Roku Ultra has a Quad-core processor but never explicates which processor they’ve actually using. And the performance of their 4K resolution HEVC streaming isn’t as proper as we expected. An average below 30fps presentation isn’t a good experience after all.
And if we need to edit, transfer the format for high resolution, HEVC codec video? The Winxvideo AI would be a great option for you to achieve this task.
- It has the full codec support for HEVC/H.265 encoding/ decoding function
- A full 4K UHD playback
- Easy-to-use edit, crop function.
- Convert your video to all encapsulation format (WMV, mp4, mkv…etc)
Best Solution to Play 4K/8K HEVC/H.265 Videos
Winxvideo AI - Fix all 4K/8K HEVC video incompatible problems on PC/Mac or devices. It can easily and efficiently convert 4K/8K videos encoded with HEVC/H.265 to 1080P HD in formats MP4, H.264, AVI, MOV, etc, for smooth playback on incompatible PCs/Macs, TVs and portable devices. 5x faster 4K HEVC transcoding speed with GPU acceleration.
How to Play 4K HEVC Files with Minimal Hardware Requirements
Technology is feeding our inexhaustible need, but don’t forget, Digiarty is always with you.
Digiarty, dedicated to multimedia software solutions, our goal is to offer our customers the best video support. Video playback, editing, encoding & decoding, hard copy video ripping, we can offer everything you could imagine about videos. We keep our eyes on the essential & advanced needs of our customers, in order to provide the best user experience.
And thank you for your time. I am here to share the newest Tech & Video industry with you. See you next time.
