What is AV1: The Future of Royalty-Free Video Codec
In this day and age, where video-based entertainment is ubiquitous, there’s a growing demand for advanced and efficient codecs. These codecs need to support a myriad of high-resolution video services, such as on-the-go 4K streaming, augmented reality (AR) interactions, and seamless video conferencing. A solution to this pressing requirement is the AV1 codec. Crafted to wipe out any hint of stuttering video streams, the AV1 codec utilizes a highly efficient compression algorithm.
Digging Deeper: What is AV1?
AV1, an abbreviation for the Alliance for Open Media Video 1, is an open-source video compression format that was primarily designed for web usage. It was conceived as the successor to Google’s VP9 codec and an adversary to the HEVC standard. Developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOM), AV1 is a royalty-free codec that promises video efficiency that outperforms HEVC by a staggering 30% or even more.
Spotlight on the AV1 Codec
The unwavering support from AOM paves the way for the timely introduction of the AV1 codec in various platforms such as browsers, mobile devices, over-the-top (OTT) media services, and smart TVs. This has contributed to the swift growth in the distribution of AV1-encoded content on platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon, providing AV1 with a substantial competitive edge. However, the HEVC codec still has an advantage due to its extensive hardware deployment, and patent owners of relevant videos are not expected to sit idle.
Although AV1 initially incorporated features from Daala and Thor, the bulk of its codebase was inherited from VP10. The aspiration of AOM is for AV1 to achieve a data compression performance that is 50% higher than VP9 and HEVC. This should also permit a reasonable increase in the complexity of encoding and playback.
Employing the AV1 Codec
Primarily, AV1 is employed for ultra-high-definition (UHD) videos that necessitate a higher bit rate, a wider color spectrum, or an increased frame rate. It can handle the playback of 4K videos at a smooth 60 frames per second (fps) on supported browsers. The fundamental version of the AV1 codec supports both 10-bit and 12-bit coding. Additionally, AV1 has been integrated to provide codec support for WebRTC — an essential platform for Real-Time Communication.
With the introduction of AV1, YouTube expressed its intentions to transition its video codecs to AV1 at the earliest convenience, particularly for UHD, HDR, and high frame rate videos. The reason for this shift is the significant bandwidth savings offered by this video codec over VP9. As of the time of this write-up, YouTube has already set up a test playlist for AV1 videos.
Origins of the Alliance for Open Media (AOM)
The Alliance for Open Media (AOM) was founded in 2015 as a non-profit, impartial, cross-industry, open-source consortium. Its membership is composed of firms from a range of sectors including the semiconductor industry, video-on-demand providers, and web browser vendors. The objective behind AV1 was to replace its precursor, VP9, and pose a competitive threat to MPEG’s HEVC, also known as H.265, and AVS2. Some of the current members of AOM include tech giants such as Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, AMD, ARM, and NVIDIA.