The Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China was established with the approval of the Science and Technology Department of the former Ministry of Information Industry in June 2002. Tasks of the Workgroup: Catering to the needs of China's information industry, work with domestic enterprises and scientific research institutions to formulate (revise) common technical standards such as compression, decompression, processing and presentation of digital audio and video, and provide efficient and economical encoding and decoding technology for digital audio and video equipment and systems, to serve high-resolution digital broadcasting, high-density laser digital storage media, wireless broadband media communications, Internet broadband streaming media and other major information industries.

AVS began with the second-generation source coding standard with independent Chinese intellectual property rights. As the name implies, "information source" is the "source" of information. The key problem to be solved by the source coding technology is the coding and compression of massive digital audio and video data (i.e., initial data, source), so it is also called digital audio and video coding and decoding technology. Obviously, it is the premise of the subsequent digital information transmission, storage, playback and other links, so it is the common basic standard of the digital audio and video industry.

AVS is a complete standard system including system, video, audio, and digital rights management, providing a more comprehensive solution for the digital audio and video industry.

∅ AVS1 (First-generation AVS Standards)

The first-generation AVS formulated in 2002 refers to a series of national standards Information Technology - Advanced Coding of Audio and Video (AVS1, national standard code: GB/T 20090) and a series of standards for radio and television Advanced Coding of Video and for Broadcasting - Part 1: Video (AVS+). AVS1 includes four main technical standards, including system, video, audio, and digital rights management, and supporting standards such as compliance testing. There are currently 14 parts. The GB/T 20090 video standard was promulgated in February 2006. At present, nine GB/T 20090 series of national standards have been promulgated. The Advanced Coding of Video and for Broadcasting - Part 1: Video formulated for radio and television applications was approved as an industry standard in July 2012, with the industry standard number of GY/T 257.1-2012 (AVS+).

AVS is an independent standard based on China's innovative technology and some public technologies. The encoding efficiency of the first-generation AVS is 2-3 times higher than that of MPEG-2, and is comparable to that of AVC. The technical solution is simple, the complexity of the chip implementation is low, and it has reached the highest level of the second-generation standard; moreover, AVS solves the problem of AVC patent licensing through a concise one-stop licensing policy. It is an open national and international standard and is easy to promote; the coding efficiency of the second-generation AVS2 is more than double that of the first-generation standard, and the compression efficiency exceeds the latest international standard HEVC (H.265). In addition, AVC is only a video coding standard, while AVS is a complete standard system including system, video, audio, and digital rights management, providing a more comprehensive solution for the digital audio and video industry. To sum up, AVS can be the first choice for the second-generation source standard.

The first-generation AVS strongly supported the upgrading of China's audio and video industry from "big to strong", forming a new situation of "self-oriented and all-round opening up". Many enterprises have successfully developed a number of AVS standard definition encoders, high definition encoders and encoders for mobile devices. In terms of chips, AVS has led more than 20 chip companies around the world to design and develop a variety of AVS standard-definition and high-definition chips, supported and promoted Chinese chip companies (10 in mainland China and 5 in Taiwan) to develop and sell AVS chips in batches, and driven 10 representative companies in the field of digital video codec chips worldwide (5 in the United States, 2 in Europe and Japan, and 1 in South Korea) to develop and sell AVS chips. In terms of encoders, a total of 5 companies including Beijing Joint Sources, Shanghai GMT Digital Technology Co., LTD., CHNAVS, American Telarity and Envivo have developed AVS HD and SD encoder products. In terms of complete machine products, companies including Changhong, Hisense, Jiuzhou, Sunniwell, DVN, Kingvon, Yinhe Electronics, and Haier have realized the industrialization and large-scale production of AVS set-top boxes. Changhong, TCL, Hisense, Skyworth, Konka, LG and other major TV companies have sold all-in-one TVs supporting AVS in large quantities.

As a common basic standard for digital TV, network video, high-definition optical drive and other audio-visual products, AVS has been widely applied in more than 20 provinces and cities including Hangzhou, Shanghai Oriental Pearl, Qingdao, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Shandong, Hunan, and Sichuan, and other countries in the world, including Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, and Cuba.

On March 18, 2013, the AVS+-based 3D program was broadcast via satellite. On the same day, the completion ceremony for the China – Cuba Havana Digital TV Demonstration Zone was held in Havana, the capital of Cuba, and digital TV using China's AVS standard was officially settled in Cuba.

On March 18, 2013, the AVS+ based 3D program of CCTV was transmitted to the satellite for an open circuit test.

In March 2014, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television jointly issued the Implementation Guide for the Application of Advanced Coding of Video and Audio for Broadcasting (AVS+) Technology. In accordance with the principle of "rapid progress, smooth transition, incremental priority and stock consideration", the Guide clarifies the timetable for the classification and step-by-step promotion of the application of AVS+ in the fields of satellite, cable, terrestrial digital TV, Internet TV and IPTV.

In November 2014, the Ministry of Finance approved the Central Radio and Television Program Wireless Coverage Project, investing nearly RMB 5 billion in digital transformation and full coverage of 2,562 launch stations across the country. The 12 sets of standard definition programs of CCTV (except 3, 5, 6, and 8) use the AVS+ standard definition encoding format. Central Radio and Television Program Wireless Coverage Project clearly stipulates that the encoding method of terrestrial television programs nationwide adopts AVS+ encoding and encrypted transmission.

Since 2014, 14 sets of CCTV programs have been broadcast in AVS+ high-definition, and the compression coding of domestic high-definition and standard-definition programs has gradually transitioned to AVS+. The adoption of the AVS+ standard solves the application and promotion of the AVS standard from the source, and drives the development of China's independent standards, coding equipment and terminal products. In October 2014, in the second bidding, CCTV completed all the conversion work of AVS + satellite HD as scheduled. As a national-level television station, CCTV continues to support the use of the AVS2 standard in ultra-high-definition programs.

In addition to the 14 sets of CCTV programs that have been broadcast in high-definition AVS+, Hunan TV, Guizhou TV, Chongqing TV, and Shanghai TV have adopted AVS+ to broadcast their TV programs. More than 20 provinces and cities in China and five other countries have adopted AVS to broadcast more than 1,000 sets of digital TV programs. There are more than 20 AVS chip manufacturers in the world. A major breakthrough has been made in the industrialization and application of the AVS+ standard. Today, domestic high-definition and standard-definition program compression coding is gradually transitioning to AVS+, satellite transmission high-definition channels will adopt AVS+, high-definition channels of digital terrestrial TV will directly use AVS+, and all digital terrestrial standard-definition channels will be converted to AVS+. With the development of programs using the AVS+ standard and the gradual diversification of content carriers, China's digital audio and video industry has achieved a large-scale strategic transformation from "Made in China" to "Created in China".

∅  AVS2 (Second-generation AVS Standards)

The second-generation AVS standard is a series of national standards Information Technology – High Efficiency Coding of Media (AVS2). AVS2 is mainly for the transmission of ultra-high-definition TV programs, supports efficient compression of ultra-high-resolution (above 4K) and high-dynamic-range videos, and strives to play a key role in the formulation of relevant international standards. AVS2 supports high-efficiency encoding of 3D video, multi-view and virtual reality video; high-efficiency lossy and lossless encoding of stereo and multichannel audio, high-efficiency coding of surveillance video; and the new media service for triple play.

In May 2016, the second-generation AVS standard Information Technology – High-Efficiency Coding of Media Part 2: Video was promulgated by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television as the radio and television industry standard High-Efficiency Coding of Audio and Video Part 1: Video (Industrial Standard: GY/ T 299.1-2016).

In December 2016, the second-generation AVS standard Information Technology –High-Efficiency Coding of Media Part 2: Video was promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration of China as a national standard (National Standard No.: GB/T 33475.2-2016).

According to the test conducted by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the compression efficiency of the first-generation AVS is equivalent to that of the international standard MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, and is more than double that of the original video encoding national standard GB/T 17975.2-2000 (equivalent to ISO/IEC 13818.2-1994, namely MPEG-2). Therefore, the frequency spectrum and bandwidth can be saved exponentially, and the economic benefits are outstanding. According to the strict test conducted by the Academy of Broadcasting Planning of the National Radio and Television Administration, the coding efficiency of the second generation AVS2 is more than double that of the first generation standard; the compression efficiency surpasses the latest international standard HEVC (H.265); compared with the first-generation AVS standard, the second-generation AVS standard can save half of the transmission bandwidth, which will support the promotion and application of ultra-high-definition TV in China in the next few years.

At the beginning of 2016, AVS has started the formulation of VR international standards and national standards, and the AVS VR international standard has been established. Since January 2017, the AVS Workgroup has started the national project application for the series of standards of Information Technology – High-Efficiency Coding of Virtual Reality Content (AVS VR Standard).

At the beginning of 2018, the draft of Information Technology – High-Efficiency Coding of Media Part 1: System and the Information Technology – High-Efficiency Coding of Media Part 3: Audio of the second-generation AVS were completed.

On June 7, 2018, China's second-generation digital audio coding standard Information Technology – High-Efficiency Coding of Media Part 3: Audio (AVS2 Audio Standard) was promulgated by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China as a national standard (GB /T 33475.3-2018) (see the National Standards Announcement ([2018] No. 9) of the People's Republic of China), which will be officially implemented on January 1, 2019. By providing a complete high-definition 3D audio-visual technical solution, AVS2 Audio Standard is matched with the second-generation AVS video coding (AVS2 video), which is a high-quality, high-efficiency audio coding and decoding standard more suitable for the needs of ultra-high-definition and 3D and other new-generation audio-visual systems. It will be applied to the panoramic sound movies, ultra-high-definition TV, Internet broadband audio and video services, digital audio and video broadcasting, wireless broadband media communication, virtual reality and augmented reality, and video surveillance, etc.

The second-generation AVS (AVS2) audio and video standards have the characteristics of "Ultra HD" and "Ultra High Efficiency". At present, the AVS2 video standard is fully applied to IPTV and 4K UHD in Guangdong Province. The AVS2 decoding chip has been developed and brought to the market by Huawei HiSilicon, and Mstar, etc. The broadcast AVS2 ultra-high-definition real-time encoders from Sumavision, Kuvision, Arcvideo Tech, and Shanghai GMT Technology Co., Ltd. are gradually being introduced to the market. The AVS2 audio standard has the technical characteristics of advanced technology, comprehensive content, high system integration, wide adaptability, flexible use, etc., and has the performance characteristics of high compression rate, high sound quality and low complexity. It has been used in the production, encoding and sound reproduction of digital movies, as well as in the field of network music and entertainment. The industrial application further promotes the rapid maturity of AVS2 audio. At present, AVS2 audio has been adopted by more and more general-purpose DSPs, TV chips, set-top box chips and mobile phone chips, which provides a good industrialization foundation for the rapid popularization of AVS2 audio. It can be said that the second-generation AVS standard is an important opportunity for China's audio and video industry to leapfrog development and even lead the international market. AVS2 can support the rapid development of China's audio and video industry at a lower cost, and support the domestic audio and video surveillance companies to occupy and dominate the international market.

∅  AVS3 (Third-generation AVS standards)

The third-generation AVS standard refers to the Information Technology - Intelligent Media Coding series of national standards (AVS3), which has been formulated since 2017. AVS3 is mainly for UHD broadcasting, panoramic video, augmented reality/virtual reality, autonomous driving, smart city, smart medical care, and smart monitoring, etc. The application that supports the intelligent compression and immersive audio scene of ultra-high resolution (above 8K), panoramic video, 3D video, screen blend content video, high dynamic range video.

The AVS3 video standard refers to the Information Technology - Intelligent Media Coding Part 2 Video (Group Standard No.: T/AI 109.2-2020).

The main technical features of the AVS3 video standard are as follows: the AVS3 video reference profile adopts Extended Quad-Tree (EQT) which is more adaptable to complex video content, Affine Motion Prediction that is more suitable for complex motion forms, Adaptive Motion Vector Resolution, and the slice partitioning mechanism that is more suitable for parallel codec implementation.

The AVS3 video standard is mainly for 8K UHD. On February 1, 2021, the China Media Group launched an 8K UHD test channel using the AVS3 video standard. On January 1, 2022, the Beijing TV Winter Olympics Documentary Channel was broadcast using the AVS3 video standard. On January 25, 2022, the 8K UHD channel of China Media Group was broadcast using the AVS3 video standard.

The AVS standards organization actively promotes the internationalization of the AVS3 video standard. In November 2021, the AVS3 video standard was released as the IEEE 1857.10 standard. Currently, we are cooperating with the European DVB organization. In September 2021, the DVB Steering Board confirmed via email that the AVS3 standard can be referenced by DVB and that the AVS intellectual property policy is in line with that of DVB.

∅  AVS Industrial Form

The digital audio and video industry surpassed the communications industry in 2008 and became the largest industry in the national economy in 2010. As a basic standard for the digital audio and video industry to "affect the whole body", AVS provides a rare opportunity for China to build an industrial chain of "technology → patent → standard → chip and software → complete machine and system manufacturing → digital media operation and cultural industry".   

The AVS product form includes:

 1）Chips: High-definition/standard-definition AVS decoding chips and encoding chips, the domestic demand will reach an average of more than 40 million pieces in the next ten years.

2）Software: AVS program production and management system, streaming media broadcasting, on-demand and playback software based on AVS standards on Linux and Window platforms.

3）Complete machine: AVS set-top box, AVS hard disk broadcast server, AVS encoder, AVS high-definition laser video disc player, AVS high-definition digital TV set-top box and receiver, AVS mobile phone, and AVS portable digital products, etc.

∅  Three Characteristics of AVS

Advanced: the second-generation source coding standard led by China with advanced technology.

Independent: the patent pool management plan leading the international trend, complete legal documents of Standards Workgroup.

Openness: The formulation process is open and internationalized

∅  AVS Membership

AVS Workgroup implements corporate membership system. Any enterprise or institution engaged in electronics, communication, computer and related fields can apply to become a member of the AVS Workgroup. Join Now