The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) has initiated the rollout of the AV2 video coding standard, which succeeds AV1. The standard maintains an open, royalty-free model, with members including Amazon, Apple, Google, Intel, Netflix, and Samsung.
According to AOMedia, AV2 offers approximately 30% higher compression efficiency compared to AV1. This improvement aims to reduce bandwidth consumption or enhance image quality at similar bitrates, depending on content and encoder settings.
Intel is developing SVT-AV2, an open-source, CPU-based software encoder to support the standard. This project builds on the company's previous work with SVT-AV1, aiming to provide scalable tools for servers and content platforms.
Google has begun testing AV2 support within YouTube and Chrome, with plans to provide AV2-encoded video streams by early 2027. Meta also intends to implement the standard for video content on Facebook and Instagram.
Widespread adoption depends on hardware decoding support in end-user devices like phones and TVs. Currently, the industry is focused on implementation and compatibility testing, as existing hardware may not yet support AV2 natively.
