Post by GeoffGiven the claimed benefits of HEIC over JPEG, is there any reason not to
use them in preference to JPEG/JPG for other than raw images ?
OK, wider (universal) acceptance of JPG. But anything else ?
Licensing and Patents
If BMFF HEIF is used with HEVC encoding, then it is worth noting that
HEVC is heavily encumbered with patents, and the Library of Congress
does not recommend using such heavily patented formats. The parties
holding patents on HEVC include but are not limited to:
Apple
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co
Toshiba Corp.
Lenovo
The uncertainty of patent encumbering is further strengthened by unclear
patent-holders' wordings. Holders of relevant patents stated to the ISO
that "the holders of these patent rights have assured the ISO and IEC
that they are willing to negotiate licenses under reasonable and
non-discriminatory terms." The specification also cautions that "some of
the elements . . . may be the subject of patent rights other than those
identified."
...
Patent licensing
Further information: High Efficiency Video Coding ยง Patent holders
HEIF itself is a container that may not be subject to additional royalty
fees for commercial ISOBMFF licensees. However, Nokia also grants its
patents on a royalty-free basis for non-commercial purposes.[83] When
containing images and image sequences encoded in a particular format
(e.g. HEVC or AVC) its use becomes subject to the licensing of patents
on the coding format.[84][85][86]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format>
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Cheers, Carlos.