Spin Digital Releases its New SDK with support for Versatile Video Coding (VVC) and Enhanced HEVC for Live

Berlin, December 17, 2021 – Spin Digital announced today the availability of a new version of its Media SDK (Spin SDK v4.0). This release includes new features and enhancements such as VVC/H.266 decoding of very high resolution videos including 8K, HEVC playback for live applications, uncompressed playback, SDI capture of custom resolutions, quality optimization of the HEVC real-time encoder, and full support for the Japanese 8K broadcast standard (ARIB STD-B32).

Spin SDK consists of a set of optimized libraries for video and audio capture, encoding, streaming, processing, and playback that facilitate the creation of cutting-edge media applications in broadcasting, immersive media, and large screen visualization.

The new main features of this SDK release are summarized next:

• VVC/H.266 8K decoding: Also known as H.266, VVC is the next-generation video video coding standard designed to reduce the bitrate beyond HEVC for demanding applications including 8K streaming. Spin Digital has developed a highly optimized VVC software decoder that is capable of processing 8K 10-bit HDR videos at 60 Hz and 120 Hz using latest generation CPUs. The decoder also supports the VVC scalable profile for efficiently coding video in multiple spatial or quality layers. The VVC decoder can process in real-time scalable streams which include, for instance, three spatial layers: FullHD, 4K, and 8K.
• HEVC playback optimized for live applications: The SDK has been improved to support HEVC playback for UHD (4K, 8K, and beyond) live streaming applications requiring minimum latency. End-to-end latency from 1s to 2s is possible with Spin Digital’s HEVC codec and streaming libraries.
• Uncompressed 8K video playback: The SDK supports playback of uncompressed 8K content. An optimized design of file reading and video rendering allows uncompressed video playback up to 8K, 4:2:2, 10-bit, 120 fps. For quality analysis of 8K content requiring pristine source, this feature facilitates the creation of cost-effective players based on standard server CPUs and SSD disks.
• SDI capture for custom resolutions: In addition to SDI capture for standard broadcasting formats (1080p, UHD-4K, UHD-8K), the I/O module has been enhanced to capture custom resolutions. This feature enables the combination of multiple SDI channels to create a single large image. As a result, it is possible to capture, for instance, a panoramic resolution of 15360×2160 (4×1 4K) pixels over a 12G-SDI card, allowing to expand the use case scenarios, especially for immersive live experiences.
• Support for the Japanese 8K broadcasting standard: Both the HEVC encoder and decoder libraries support multiple HEVC formats including single-slice frame encoding and the ARIB STD-B32 standard (4 slices per frames) used for 8K broadcasting in Japan.
• Enhanced visual quality for BT.2020: Spin Digital has improved the HEVC encoding library to increase the perceived quality of videos using Wide Color Gamut based on the BT.2020 standard, the most widely used color space in 8K with HDR. As a result, more realistic colors with less coding artifacts can be achieved.

Platform Support

The new SDK is available for different OS platforms including Windows 8.1 and 10, Red Hat Linux 7 and 8, and Ubuntu 18.04.

Availability

Spin SDK v4.0 is available now for licensing. A demo version or a quote can be requested online: https://spin-digital.com/demo-or-quote/

For more information visit the Spin SDK website.

Trademarks

Spin Digital and Spin SDK are trademarks of Spin Digital Video Technologies GmbH.

Other trademarks remain the property of their owners, and are used here for descriptive purposes.