Due to licensing fees?: Dell and HP are shipping notebooks without HEVC decoding.

Mobile CPUs from Intel can accelerate the HEVC decoding format in hardware since the 6th Gen Core, at AMD it started simultaneously with the 6th Generation A-Series (“Carrizo”). Then how can it be that some current systems from Dell and HP are delivered without HEVC support? The answer: The OEMs have disabled the feature.

Dell and HP disable HEVC decoding in hardware

ArsTechnica has drawn attention to this. The publication had taken complaints from buyers of current notebooks (e.g. Dell Pro 16 Plus) as an opportunity and asked Dell and HP what the background is.

Both OEMs have confirmed to ArsTechnica that HEVC decoding has been deactivated on the affected devices at the factory, without giving a specific reason. HP has already started this in 2024.

In 2024, HP disabled the HEVC (H.265) codec hardware on select devices, including the 600 Series G11, 400 Series G11, and 200 Series G9 products. Customers requiring the ability to encode or decode HEVC content on one of the impacted models can utilize licensed third-party software solutions that include HEVC support. Check with your preferred video player for HEVC software support.

Statement HP

HEVC video playback is available on Dell’s premium systems and in select standard models equipped with hardware or software, such as integrated 4K displays, discrete graphics cards, Dolby Vision, or Cyberlink BluRay software. On other standard and base systems, HEVC playback is not included, but users can access HEVC content by purchasing an affordable third-party app from the Microsoft Store. For the best experience with high-resolution content, customers are encouraged to select systems designed for 4K or high-performance needs.

Dell

It’s likely about licensing fees. HEVC decoding

However, since both customers who still need this feature refer to “third-party apps”, the motivation should lie in the license fees: unlike VP9 or AV1/AV2, HEVC (H.265) is subject to licensing.

For a notebook that supports HEVC encoding from the factory, the OEM and /or chip supplier must therefore pay a fee – and with a “current” CPU (dGPU), HEVC decoding is also directly possible without additional software in the installed Edge browser under Windows 11. By switching off the HEVC capability, OEMs will thus save themselves the license fee, which will increase again at the beginning of 2026.

At HP, interested parties can find out about the disabled HEVC hardware decoding and encoding in the technical details (e.g. HP ProBook 460 G11: “Hardware acceleration for CODEC H.265/HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is disabled on this platform”). At Dell, on the other hand, only one support page informs more or less directly about the fact that cheaper devices in particular are affected.

Third-party apps run “in software”

Meanwhile, the fact that HEVC decoding can be retrofitted using third-party software is only a small consolation. Firstly, this step does not bring the HEVC capability to the browser and other system apps such as Messenger, secondly, it is then a software solution: current CPUs are fast enough to decode HEVC easily with comparatively low consumption, but this would be much more efficient in hardware.