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AV1 is Supposed To Make Streaming Better, So Why Isn't Everyone Using It? (theverge.com)

(Thursday April 03, 2025 @11:27AM (msmash) from the reality-check dept.)


Despite promises of more efficient streaming, the AV1 video codec [1]hasn't achieved widespread adoption seven years after its 2018 debut, even with backing from tech giants Netflix, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta. The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) claims AV1 is 30% more efficient than standards like HEVC, delivering higher-quality video at lower bandwidth while remaining royalty-free.

Major services including YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video have embraced the technology, with Netflix encoding approximately 95% of its content using AV1. However, adoption faces significant hurdles. Many streaming platforms including Max, Peacock, and Paramount Plus haven't implemented AV1, partly due to hardware limitations. Devices require specific decoders to properly support AV1, though recent products from Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Intel have begun including them. "In order to get its best features, you have to accept a much higher encoding complexity," Larry Pearlstein, associate professor at the College of New Jersey, told The Verge. "But there is also higher decoding complexity, and that is on the consumer end."



[1] https://www.theverge.com/tech/635020/av1-streaming-netflix-youtube-google-adoption



They Don't Care (Score:2)

by crow ( 16139 )

Clearly the other streaming services just don't care. Bandwidth is too low on their cost matrix for even a significant savings to matter to them. They just don't want to bother with the complexity of setting up another encoding system. It's not like they have to switch; they just need to encode shows in both, and then stream to customers with hardware that supports the new codec. If they just did this for their top hits, they could save a ton of bandwidth with minimal effort.

Re: (Score:2)

by BeepBoopBeep ( 7930446 )

Apple just added AV1 hardeware support in 2023, so thats a thing.

Easy (Score:3)

by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )

My video card doesn't support this in hardware, so there's no advantage for me to enable the use of this codec (so specifically blacklist it), and opt for others that are accelerated on my graphics hardware vs. my CPU.

Re: (Score:2)

by war4peace ( 1628283 )

If you have a RDNA2 or above GPU, or an Intel 11th gen / AMD Ryzen 6000 or above CPU, they support AV1 decoding.

how similar are the subscribers bases (Score:2)

by DarkOx ( 621550 )

Prime video has a lot of uses because it is bundled. Netflix is probably the biggest name in streaming.

Is there any reason to think the same general population has peacock or paramount+?

I have had paramount off and on so I could see Star Trek - Latest, but other than that it seems like a lot of back catalog that was not especially worth revisiting. I have no idea what the user make up is or isn't but maybe people that want to pay to watch old comedies from the '80s and 90s sitcom reruns over lap with peopl

Let's call it an accidental feature.
--Larry Wall