Dell and HP are apparently adopting a cost containment measure that should displease many users. Ars Technica reports that the two companies have disabled support for HEVC/H.265 in several models of their notebooks, including entry-level domestic lines and even some for professional use.
The HEVC codec is popular for its data compression capabilities, which allows large videos to be transmitted without loss of quality and requiring less of the device’s hardware. AMD processors for notebooks have supported the codec since 2015, while Intel Core since the 6th generation.
Models such as the HP ProBook 460 G11, 465 G11 and EliteBook 665 G11 contain the following warning in their specifications documents: “hardware acceleration for the H.265/HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) codec is disabled on this platform).
HP confirmed to Ars Technica that the decision was made in 2024, without explaining the reasons for it. On Reddit, users question the limitation, especially for notebook models that have “Pro” in their name.
Dell, in turn, has a support page detailing that it supports H.265/HEVC on notebooks with:
- An optional dedicated graphics card
- An optional add-on graphics card
- An integrated 4K display
- Dolby Vision
- A CyberLink Blu-ray player
Licensing costs may be behind Dell and HP decisions
Dell also did not offer a specific reason for disabling the codec on some of its notebooks, but Ars Technica speculates that the decisions were made by companies to save on licensing.
Companies need to pay to enable HEVC on their systems, just as with HDMI. The codec, however, will increase in price in January 2026, going from US$0.20 for each implementation to US$0.24 – in the range of more than 100,001 units sold.
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Specific codec support is not information that usually appears prominently in product announcements, so many users will probably only discover the lack of HEVC/H.265 when it does not work on their new notebooks.
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Source: https://www.adrenaline.com.br/notebook/dell-e-hp-estao-desabilitando-suporte-a-h-265-hevc-em-alguns-de-seus-notebooks/
