# Best practices

## Introduction

V-Nova LCEVC is a comprehensive SDK for enhancing any encoding and decoding workflow with MPEG-5 Part 2 Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding. 

LCEVC provides a boost to the compression efficiency of any existing or future video codec, to achieve higher quality at up to 40% lower bitrates, while accelerating encoding and reducing compute costs by up to 4x.

![LCECV: Less Bitrate Less Processing Power](https://content.gitbook.com/content/II3HaKNLFEqGvuN59zwF/blobs/rB7p4H5DBlop7SSmB8wa/LCEVC_bitrate_comp_power.png)

## How to select the optimal bitrates and resolutions for encoding with LCEVC

Our Video Quality Framework allows us to define the ideal LCEVC-enhanced ABR ladder for the specific business requirements of a video service provider. 

A Convex Hull approach that combines VMAF and subjective video quality assessment has been used to determine the best combination of bitrate/resolution for specific content and base codec. 

The charts below provides a guideline, based on V-Nova's experience across a broad range of content.

![Native H.264 vs LCEVC H.264](https://content.gitbook.com/content/II3HaKNLFEqGvuN59zwF/blobs/LCYGEmuqHvZATVqb4Adf/LCEVC_H.264_COMPARISON.jpg)

![Native H.265 vs LCEVC H.265](https://content.gitbook.com/content/II3HaKNLFEqGvuN59zwF/blobs/EZYcCDuxwhrEXFu7toRV/LCEVC_H.265_COMPARISON.jpg)

## Try our LCEVC-enhanced ABR Ladder Builder

The extensive testing and analysis above has been incorporated into easy-to-use excel sheets that provide initial suggestions for how to select optimal LCEVC-enhanced adaptive streaming profiles for your use case. Click on the links below to try them.

* ### [LCEVC-enhanced H.264/AVC](https://docs-vnova-com.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/LCEVC+%26+H.264+ABR+Ladder+Builder+\(web\).xlsx)
* ### [LCEVC-enhanced H.265/HEVC](https://docs-vnova-com.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/LCEVC+%26+H.265+ABR+Ladder+Builder+\(web\).xlsx)

## An example LCEVC-enhanced ABR ladder

The table below provides an example, from a report written by industry analyst Jan Ozer. 

The H.264 ABR Ladder profiles, encoded using x264 (medium preset), are in line what recommended by Apple in the HLS Authoring Specification. 

The LCEVC H.264 ABR Ladder profiles have been opt**i**mised to achieve both a quality uplift and a reduction in the total average bitrate streamed.

The amount of motion in the source can also determine encoding settings. 

![Example of H.264 ABR ladder vs LCEVC H.264](https://content.gitbook.com/content/II3HaKNLFEqGvuN59zwF/blobs/NnSTWPp0Bvo0P6vz3ptD/image.png)

With LCEVC the ABR Ladder profiles have been reduced from 7 to 6, reducing the total bitrate streamed by 27% (whilst achieving a better quality). 

Jan Ozer's report confirms that **LCEVC generates both bandwidth** **savings** - between 19% to 22% reduction in the total average bitrate streamed, based on typical playback frequency of profiles -  **and improvement in overall quality of experience**, measures both subjectively via Mean Opinion Score (MOS) and with VMAF.

Full details and results are available [here](https://streaminglearningcenter.com/codecs/lcevc-excels-in-full-ladder-live-use-case-testing.html).