You don’t notice good video compression—until it’s not there. For years, people have streamed high-resolution video without thinking about the tech behind it. But when companies clash over which hardware, software, and services can use modern codecs like HEVC/H.265, the idea that it all ‘just works’ quickly falls apart.

For some Dell and HP customers, that illusion has already been shattered. When the companies disabled HEVC support built into the CPUs of select PCs, it raised uncomfortable questions: Why remove a capability that’s already a part of third-party hardware?

The intricacies of video codec implementation require navigating an intricate web of technical and legal requirements built atop an even more complex patent licensing system. Recent consolidation among key parties, leading to ‘patent pools,’ along with court rulings and new standards, has further complicated the picture.

Implementing video codecs requires navigating an intricate web of technical and legal requirements built atop an even more complex patent licensing system. Recent consolidation among key parties, leading to “patent pools,” along with court rulings and new standards, has further complicated the picture. We spoke with experts to unpack how HEVC patent licensing works for consumer products, why patent holders are suing, why some users are being forced to pay for the codec, and whether there’s a better option.

So when a company disables hardware-based HEVC encoding and decoding support from a computer, it can create headaches. 4K and HDR streams on services like Netflix and Apple TV+ stop working in web browsers and desktop apps, for instance. An HEVC shot on an iPhone won’t play on many apps, including web browsers and some media players, like Windows’ Movies & TV. And tasks like editing and exporting HEVC videos in Adobe Premiere Pro become slower, since all the decoding and encoding must be handled by software instead of the PC’s hardware.