- AV2 enables higher video quality using smaller bandwidth
- More contemporary streams for Multi-Cam, AR/VR and 3D TV
- Expected to be adopted by the end of 2026
AV2, the next generation of the widely used AV1 streaming standard, could give your favorite streaming service a big lift and it can improve the effectiveness of delivering hi-res 3D movies as well, which is the brilliant news for the six people who still have a 3D TV.
A new report from Flatpanelshd shows that AV2 provides significant benefits over the existing AV1 standard. In a presentation by Netflix researcher Andrey Norkin, who, together with Apple, Google, Meta and Tencent experts, is a contributor to AV2’s creator The Alliance for Open Media, shared new benchmarks describing the improved performance.
The short version: Higher quality, lower bandwidth, smiley faces around.
What does AV2 actually deliver?
In Norkin’s presentation, he demonstrated that AV2 delivers 30% better video compression than AV1. In other words, AV2 can deliver the same quality as AV1 with 30% less bandwidth. In particular, it has major consequences for 4K and 8K video, as it could persuade streamers to deliver higher quality video streams without limiting them to the most expensive levels. Although it is worth noting that Norkin does not offer comparisons to H.264 (MPEG4), H.265 (HEVC) or H.266 (VVC) Codecs. As the report notes, H.264 is the most widely used Codec for HD video and H.265 is the same for 4K.
One of the most interesting things about AV2 is that it is also designed to deliver multi-stream video, which is when multiple streams of the same thing are transmitted simultaneously-as stereo-visuals in a 3D movie or multiple camera views or live and study foods of a sporting event.
Given that AV2 will be supported by Disney, Apple, Google and more, it may prove to be very interesting – and that could mean more immersive video content such as Los Angeles Lakers games streaming to Apple’s Vision Pro. VR and AR are both expected to be the most important recipients of the standard.
The full AV2 specification will be released later in the year and 53% of alliance for open media members say they will adopt it within 12 months.
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