More and more, video is captured and managed in high-definition formats. At the same time, the transport may still depend on legacy equipment with a lower bandwidth. A lightweight visually lossless compression is the logic bridge. But for a widespread acceptance, the solution should be simple, have minimal latency, and allow a cost-effective implementation. VC-2 LD ticks all the boxes.

The VC-2 LD codec was originally developed at the BBC and later standardized as SMPTE 2042. It is a simple intra-frame wavelet codec that was specifically designed for low complexity and low latency. It combines light compression with high-quality lossless video. VC-2 is patent-free; it may be included in video production equipment without the potential costs, legal uncertainties, and practical difficulties of including other comparable codecs. VC-2 by its nature doesn’t require much computational resources. It is a thin solution that may be integrated in existing designs and low-end Altera and Xilinx FPGAs.

“Adding VC-2 LD to video equipment is a smart way to manage higher resolutions and frame rates, and still keep the required bandwidth, storage, and compute power within budget,” says Jean-Marie Cloquet, manager of Barco Silex’ video division. “With this new hardware core, equipment suppliers will be able to make their equipment future-proof without major redesigns and cost upgrades.”