With 1080p60 HDTV sets now commonplace and production infrastructure converting to 3 Gbps, the stage is being set for the migration to 1080p60 broadcast television. One of the key issues with 1080p60 is how to introduce it into the existing ecosystem while maintaining backwards compatibility with existing infrastructure and set-top boxes. The best codec solution for 1080p60 is SVC.

The illustration below depicts two ways in which 1080p60 content can be broadcast. The first is to simulcast both 1080p60 and 720p streams. A much more efficient way is to broadcast with SVC where the base layer is an H.264 720p stream, compatible with all existing set-top boxes, and the enhancement layer brings the broadcast up to 1080p60. Using SVC broadcasters and service providers can reduce the incremental overhead required for 1080p60 by ~60% over simulcast.