I messaged Syno support about the HEVC issue. Below is a copy of the discussion. It still makes zero sense to me why File Station is ok to work without licensing and Photos is not, but that's where we are.
Greetings,
Thank you for contacting support. We are happy to help. Synology has supported HEVC for as long as it's been around. Until early last year when we did not have much of a choice but to drop it. HEVC (H.265) is a licensing mess. The patent holders are suing all software vendors that don't pay them royalties. Some vendors (eg. Qnap) are adapting by re-releasing H.265 playback functionality in the form of non-free addons. As for the Synology, we can only hope that yhe royalty-free AV1 codec comes along with wider support and makes HEVC a thing of the past. I understand that this is disappointing to hear but rest assured our Developers have made finding a way around this a top priority as it affects so many users and also limits the features in a lot of our software.
I do not have an ETA on when the developers will have something tested and ready for release. But it will be big news that you can't miss when it comes. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Best regards,
Joe
So why can I play the video on Synology File Station but I can't on Synology Photo? Have your engineers just not gotten around to scrubbing that functionality from the older apps?
This is supremely irritating. I know it isn't your fault in particular, but not being able to play an extremely common codec makes Syno Photo almost un-useable. Please push the developers to figure out a fix for the problem.
Greetings,
It is understandable to be upset, I get it. The reasoning though for me describing why HEVC is an issue for every other Operating System out there was to help you understand that this was not a choice that Synology had any say in. The developers of HEVC have created a very serious Legal issue an one that affects us all. Myself included. There was no "scrubbing" of HEVC support, we did not take it away. It is just that you can't use it anymore on any operating system without paying absurd amounts of royalties. As mentioned, our Developers have made developing an alternative to HEVC that can still read HEVC files and this is a top priority for them. I am in hopes to hear about any progress being made in the near future. Myself along with the other engineers are in constant communication about our customers wants, wishes and needs. And these communications are relayed to our Developers. We have had too many requests for HEVC support I couldn't count them all, this is really a hot item for our team as a whole.
As for file station, it allows you to open and view Files regardless of what the file extension is. For file Station, these are all just files, that are being Stored in File Station. It is not an actual package that is required, with services and dependencies that are necessary to be able to View photos with certain file extensions. It is simply a place to store files without any conversion or alternative method required for opening it.
I have forwarded your ticket on to the Developers so they can add it to the tickets related to HEVC as they continue working on a solution.
Thank you for your patience. And kindly let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
Joe
Greetings,
Thank you for contacting support. We are happy to help. Synology has supported HEVC for as long as it's been around. Until early last year when we did not have much of a choice but to drop it. HEVC (H.265) is a licensing mess. The patent holders are suing all software vendors that don't pay them royalties. Some vendors (eg. Qnap) are adapting by re-releasing H.265 playback functionality in the form of non-free addons. As for the Synology, we can only hope that yhe royalty-free AV1 codec comes along with wider support and makes HEVC a thing of the past. I understand that this is disappointing to hear but rest assured our Developers have made finding a way around this a top priority as it affects so many users and also limits the features in a lot of our software.
I do not have an ETA on when the developers will have something tested and ready for release. But it will be big news that you can't miss when it comes. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Best regards,
Joe
So why can I play the video on Synology File Station but I can't on Synology Photo? Have your engineers just not gotten around to scrubbing that functionality from the older apps?
This is supremely irritating. I know it isn't your fault in particular, but not being able to play an extremely common codec makes Syno Photo almost un-useable. Please push the developers to figure out a fix for the problem.
Greetings,
It is understandable to be upset, I get it. The reasoning though for me describing why HEVC is an issue for every other Operating System out there was to help you understand that this was not a choice that Synology had any say in. The developers of HEVC have created a very serious Legal issue an one that affects us all. Myself included. There was no "scrubbing" of HEVC support, we did not take it away. It is just that you can't use it anymore on any operating system without paying absurd amounts of royalties. As mentioned, our Developers have made developing an alternative to HEVC that can still read HEVC files and this is a top priority for them. I am in hopes to hear about any progress being made in the near future. Myself along with the other engineers are in constant communication about our customers wants, wishes and needs. And these communications are relayed to our Developers. We have had too many requests for HEVC support I couldn't count them all, this is really a hot item for our team as a whole.
As for file station, it allows you to open and view Files regardless of what the file extension is. For file Station, these are all just files, that are being Stored in File Station. It is not an actual package that is required, with services and dependencies that are necessary to be able to View photos with certain file extensions. It is simply a place to store files without any conversion or alternative method required for opening it.
I have forwarded your ticket on to the Developers so they can add it to the tickets related to HEVC as they continue working on a solution.
Thank you for your patience. And kindly let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
Joe
