Recommendation ITU-T H.266 specifies a video coding technology known as Versatile Video Coding and it has been designed with two primary goals. The first of these is to specify a video coding technology with a compression capability that is substantially beyond that of the prior generations of such standards, and the second is for this technology to be highly versatile for effective use in a broadened range of applications than that addressed by prior standards. Some key application areas for the use of this standard particularly include ultra-high-definition video (e.g., with 3840×2160 or 7620×4320 picture resolution and bit depth of 10 bits as specified in Rec. ITU-R BT.2100), video with a high dynamic range and wide colour gamut (e.g., with the perceptual quantization or hybrid log-gamma transfer characteristics specified in Rec. ITU-R BT.2100), and video for immersive media applications such as 360° omnidirectional video projected using a common projection format such as the equirectangular or cubemap projection formats, in addition to the applications that have commonly been addressed by prior video coding standards.

This revision adds the specification of a new level (level 15.5) for the video profiles to provide a suitable label for bitstreams that can exceed the limits of all other specified levels, additional supplement enhancement information, and corrections to various minor defects in the prior content of the Recommendation.

This Recommendation was developed collaboratively with ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29, and corresponds with ISO/IEC 23090‑3 as technically aligned twin text.