P: Please support HEVC (H.265) video support for Windows

It's frustrating when this stuff festers for so long out here, but there isn't much you can do about it.  Absent of some direction/communication from Adobe, your only option right now is to change your phone settings to save in the old formats.  You can do this by going to Settings --> Camera --> Format --> Most Compatible.

Hi,
I just bought an iPhone 11 Pro just to realize that the regular iphone files HEVC and HEIC are obviously not supported. at least the greyed out pictures won't open. when I tried to download and opend the files in the Windows (19) Photo viewer it told me that a codec was missing and I should downloadit for 99 cents (euro). after I did, at least windows could open the images, but LR is completely dead on those formats. In a way the new iPhone seems to be useless for LR users, all other solution a waste of time. Also PS refuses the task.

Any idea what could be done?? I consider giving the iPhone back. Unfortunately I haven't got a clue why Apple is using such an unusual format for their RAW (and is it really a sensible solution??

Image is not available

There is still no support for HEVC (H.265) on Windows 10. So I am neither able to integrate my smartphone videos (Samsung Galaxy S10) nor my GoPro videos into Lightroom Classic CC. I asked the support today and their response was that there is no information available when this functionality will be available for windows. And I think this is really bad.
Yes I know there are similar posts but they have been added two years ago. And I hope to add a new one might help. 

Also eagerly awaiting HEVC support for Lightroom Classic CC. Even if there is a new standard coming I have hundreds of existing HEVC files that I'd like to be able to view in Lightroom.

Any plans to develop a more robust version of Lightroom that doesn’t corrupt via mobile sync leading to endless sync inconsistencies? For a user that produces hundreds if not thousands of assets, LR remains very “rinky dink” pardon my French

I'm really glad to hear that, and I appreciate the responses I have hope again.

> Do you have any documentation where Adobe is re-affirming support?

I'm busy working on a blog post of what's changed in Classic since LR6. It's currently 23 pages... I'm trying to trim it down! Honestly, going back and working on the foundations for things like GPU and folder enumeration (new in 8.4 alone) is absolute proof that this is not sunset.

Informed speculation:

LR support for Windows HEVC isn't technical, since end users can buy an HEVC codec from the Microsoft store for $0.99. Since it's not technical, perhaps the problem is caused by the HEVC/H.265 patent-licensing mess, e.g. 

The Future of HEVC Licensing Is Bleak, Declares MPEG Chairman
The HEVC IP Mess is Worse than you Think

Most of the industry biggies are backing the Alliance for Open Media, which is developing AV1, a royalty-free alternative to HEVC, due to be released "soon".

Unlike Apple and Mac OS, Microsoft doesn't bundle an HEVC codec in the default Windows 10 installation, though supposedly some computer manufacturers do in their OEM installations.  The description of the $0.99 HEVC add-on says, "Play High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) videos in any video app on your Windows 10 device" (emphasis added).  The license agreement doesn't mention HEVC/H.265, but it does have a paragraph for the older H.264, restricting the use of Microsoft's H.264 codecs to personal and noncommercial use by consumers.

So perhaps the Microsoft license terms for the HEVC codec have similar restrictions, such that Adobe lawyers feel it necessary to negotiate a separate license for Creative Cloud products, for which Adobe doesn't want to pay (remember the Dolby legal fiasco)? Or maybe there are other uncertainties about the Microsoft licensing (e.g the patent-licensing mess) that Adobe lawyers are balking at. 

And whatever the detailed reasons, maybe Adobe has decided to stop putting more effort into Windows HEVC licensing, hoping that AV1 will supplant HEVC "soon"?

Lots of maybes. It would be naive to expect Adobe to shed any light on this. Licensing contracts usually have confidentiality clauses. And like most other large companies, the suits at Adobe often treat customers like growing mushrooms -- keep them in the dark and shovel in lots of organic material.

Rikk,
Maybe another way to ask... do you know of a roadmap for Classic? Do you have any documentation where Adobe is re-affirming support? Do we know if they're even working on the HEVC problem, or the CC tagging issue?

There has been one additional update to the Lightroom Desktop app that was not released with a Lightroom Classic update as well. That was 2.3.1 which was a special release to put Lightroom Desktop in the Mac App Store. 

Otherwise - they've had the same number of releases. Sometimes Lightroom Classic gets more features added than Lightroom Desktop...