Why AV1 Is Showing Up Everywhere
Video eats bandwidth. It always has. For years we’ve squeezed more quality from every bit using codecs like H.264 and VP9. Now AV1 is landing in browsers, GPUs, phones, TVs, and meeting apps. It compresses video better than what most people use today, and it does so in a way that’s becoming practical for live streaming, video calls, and screen sharing.
This guide is for people who make video: streamers, IT admins, product teams, and anyone who sets up video for work. We’ll skip hype and focus on what you can actually do with AV1 today—hardware you can buy, settings that work, and the tradeoffs that matter. You’ll learn how to choose bitrates, when to use AV1 versus H.264, and what pitfalls to avoid so your audience doesn’t stare at a spinning buffer.
What AV1 Actually Changes
AV1 is a modern, royalty-free codec created by the Alliance for Open Media. It outperforms H.264 and typically beats VP9 at the same bitrate. In plain terms: you get similar quality at much lower bitrates, or much better quality at your current bitrates. For live streaming, that means fewer dropped frames when your connection dips. For meetings, it means smoother faces and clearer screens at low bandwidth.
Compression Gains in Simple Language
AV1 uses smarter tricks to predict what the next block of video will look like. It can split the image into smaller shapes, try more motion guesses, and polish the result with better in-loop filters. You don’t have to know the names of tools like CDEF or restoration filters to benefit. Just know this: AV1 spends more brainpower per frame to keep detail intact, especially in tough scenes like grass, hair, confetti, or text.
How Much Better Is It?
Real-world results vary, but you’ll often see 20–40% bitrate savings compared to VP9 and more versus H.264 at the same quality. That’s meaningful. If you stream at 6 Mbps today with H.264 for 1080p, you can aim near 4–5 Mbps with AV1 for similar clarity—or hold 6 Mbps and look noticeably sharper.
The Cost: Compute
Better compression isn’t free. AV1 is heavier to encode than H.264, especially on CPU. The good news is GPUs now support AV1 in hardware. Current NVIDIA RTX 40-series cards, Intel Arc GPUs, and AMD RDNA 3 GPUs have AV1 encoders. Many recent phones, streaming sticks, and TVs have AV1 decoders. That shift makes AV1 practical for live workflows, not just offline mastering.
Can You Use AV1 Today? Yes, Here’s How
To decide if AV1 fits your setup, check three things: your encoder, your viewers’ decoders, and your platform’s support.
Encoders You Can Buy
- PC GPUs: NVIDIA RTX 40-series (NVENC AV1), Intel Arc A-series (AV1), AMD RX 7000 (AV1). These are the easiest way to encode AV1 for live streams.
- CPU encoders: SVT-AV1 or libaom via FFmpeg for offline or VOD. They can do live at low resolutions if you have serious cores, but GPU wins for practical live work.
- Hardware appliances: Some dedicated encoders and cloud services now support AV1. If you rent cloud instances, confirm AV1 is available and cost-effective.
Decoders Viewers Already Have
- Browsers: Chrome, Edge, and Firefox decode AV1 on most desktops. Android browsers also fare well on newer devices. Safari support is improving as Apple ships hardware AV1 decode in recent chips.
- Apps and devices: Many smart TVs, streaming boxes, and phone SoCs now ship with AV1 decode. Adoption is uneven but trending up quickly.
Bottom line: Most desktop viewers can play AV1 today. Mobile and TV support is strong on newer hardware, less so on old devices. If you have a diverse audience, plan graceful fallback.
Platforms That Already Use AV1
- VOD: Big platforms transcode to AV1 behind the scenes for newer devices. This reduces CDN bills and boosts quality at scale.
- Live streaming: Some platforms accept AV1 ingest and deliver AV1 to supported viewers. Others transcode your input to multiple codecs for reach.
- Video meetings: Several meeting apps use AV1, often for screen sharing or low-bandwidth scenarios. Support is typically automatic where both ends can handle it.
Because each platform moves at its own pace, your best approach is to enable AV1 where it helps, and keep H.264 as a backup.
Practical Setup for Streamers and Creators
If you stream with OBS or a similar tool, switching to AV1 is straightforward with the right GPU.
OBS Settings That Work
- Encoder: AV1 (NVENC/AMF/Intel, depending on your GPU).
- Rate Control: For live platforms, use CBR. For recording, use CQP or CRF to target quality and save space.
- Bitrate: Start with your platform’s guidance. AV1 lets you lower from H.264 norms without losing clarity. For 1080p60, 5–7 Mbps often looks great; for 720p60, 3–4.5 Mbps is common.
- Keyframe Interval: 2 seconds is still the safe default for many CDNs.
- Preset/Tuning: Choose “Quality” or “Psycho-visual” if offered. Enable look-ahead and B-frames if latency budgets allow.
Example Bitrate Ladders
Use these as starting points; adapt to your content and viewers:
- 1080p60: 7000 kbps (main), 5500 kbps, 4000 kbps
- 720p60: 4500 kbps (main), 3500 kbps, 2500 kbps
- 540p30: 1500 kbps, 1000 kbps
Action-heavy games need more bits than talking heads. If your audience is bitrate-constrained, consider 1080p30 or 900p60 for a better balance.
Recording With AV1
For archives or YouTube uploads, record with AV1 at a quality target (CQP/CRF) instead of CBR. You’ll maintain consistent visual quality and save disk space. If your editor doesn’t like AV1, record ProRes or H.264 mezzanine locally and transcode to AV1 after editing with FFmpeg + SVT-AV1 for best results.
AV1 in Meetings and Screen Sharing
Video calls run on WebRTC. The AV1 story here is about two things: quality at low bitrate and resilience. When your connection dips or packets drop, AV1’s efficiency helps hold a clear picture. It is also well-suited for screen sharing, which has lots of sharp lines and text that blocky codecs can mangle.
Layered Video With SVC
Modern meetings use Scalable Video Coding (SVC). Think of it as layers: a base layer for low resolution plus extra layers for higher detail. If your network is weak, the app can drop layers. If it improves, layers come back. AV1 supports SVC cleanly, helping calls adapt without stalls. This is the tech behind “it got blurry for a moment but never paused.”
What You Can Control
- Enable hardware decode in your meeting client if available, to reduce CPU load and fans.
- Use Ethernet or strong Wi‑Fi for stable uplink. AV1 helps, but solid networking still wins.
- Share the right window for screen sharing to keep resolution and scaling consistent.
Most meeting tools pick codecs automatically. You won’t see an “AV1” checkbox. What you will notice is smoother screen text at low bandwidth and fewer artifacts when someone moves quickly in a small tile.
Packaging and Delivery: HLS, DASH, and Compatibility
If you operate your own player or CDN pipeline, AV1 fits into standard packaging, with a few caveats.
DASH and CMAF
MPEG-DASH already supports AV1 broadly. Package AV1 in fMP4 (ISOBMFF) segments, typically with the CMAF profile for player compatibility. Many web players and TVs can handle this when the device supports AV1 decode.
HLS Considerations
HLS can deliver AV1 in fMP4 segments via Media Source Extensions in browsers that support it. Native HLS on older iOS devices won’t decode AV1, so you’ll need fallback variants (e.g., H.264) in your master playlist. Monitor your player’s capability detection and pick variants accordingly.
Fallback Strategy
- Keep a baseline H.264 ladder for older devices.
- Offer AV1 variants for compatible devices to reduce CDN load and improve quality.
- Log which variants get used so you can adjust over time as your audience upgrades.
Encoding Without Tears: FFmpeg and Presets
If you control your encoding, your two main tools are SVT-AV1 (fast and tunable) and libaom-av1 (reference quality, slower). Both plug into FFmpeg. For live, test SVT-AV1 or hardware encoders; for VOD, SVT-AV1 is a strong balance of speed and efficiency.
FFmpeg Starters
Live-leaning SVT-AV1 example:
- ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libsvtav1 -preset 6 -crf 28 -b:v 0 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -c:a aac output_av1.mkv
Higher-quality VOD SVT-AV1:
- ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libsvtav1 -preset 4 -crf 24 -b:v 0 -pix_fmt yuv420p10le -c:a aac output_av1.mkv
Adjust preset (lower is slower but better) and CRF (lower means higher quality). For HDR, ensure you preserve color primaries and transfer characteristics through your pipeline.
Hardware Encoding Notes
Hardware encoders inside NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD GPUs are the fastest path to AV1 live. They expose settings through OBS and FFmpeg. For FFmpeg, map to the appropriate encoder (e.g., av1_nvenc when available). Expect different psycho-visual tunings and features across vendors—test short clips of your content type before going live.
Advanced Features You’ll Care About Soon
Film Grain Synthesis
AV1 includes film grain tools that can preserve a natural look without encoding literal noise. If you work with movies or cinematic B-roll, grain synthesis can boost perceived quality at lower bitrates. Use with care; misconfigured grain can look artificial.
Content-Adaptive Encoding
Per-title and per-scene encoding adapt ladder resolutions and bitrates to the source. AV1’s efficiency makes these techniques even more valuable. On live pipelines, content-adaptive bitrate (CABR) can shave bandwidth during static segments and recover quality fast on motion spikes.
SVC and Simulcast Together
For WebRTC, some stacks combine SVC and simulcast. Simulcast sends a few distinct streams at different resolutions. SVC layers each stream for even finer adaptation. AV1 handles this well, letting multiparty meetings adjust at the subscriber level without re-encoding in the SFU.
Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
“My Audience Can’t Play It”
Not all devices decode AV1. The fix is simple: publish fallback ladders and a player that detects capabilities. If your platform controls the player, verify it checks codec support before selecting variants; if you rely on a third-party player, confirm its feature detection and error handling.
“It Looks Soft at Low Bitrate”
AV1 is good, not magic. Aggressive low bitrates will blur fast motion and texture. Try lowering frame rate instead of shredding bitrate, or slightly reducing resolution (e.g., 900p60 instead of 1080p60). For VOD, use CRF with a sensible preset rather than crushing CBR.
Color and HDR Surprises
AV1 supports HDR10 and HLG. But your entire pipeline—camera, ingest, editor, encoder, packager, player—must carry the right metadata and color space. If you see washed colors, check your transfer function (PQ/HLG) and color primaries (BT.2020 vs BT.709). Stick to yuv420p10le for HDR encodes and validate on multiple devices.
Latency Budgets
AV1 takes computation time. Live is a constant negotiation between quality and latency. If your use case is sub-second latency (e.g., auctions, remote control), consider H.264 or tuned VP9 unless you have a strong GPU encoder and a player designed for low-latency AV1. For most streamers and meetings, AV1’s latency is acceptable with hardware encode and reasonable buffering.
Costs and Power: What to Expect
AV1’s encoding cost has two parts: capital (hardware) and ongoing (energy and cloud time). A single modern GPU can comfortably handle one or more AV1 1080p60 live encodes while gaming or compositing in OBS. On laptops, AV1 hardware encode/decode reduces CPU usage and fan noise versus software codecs.
On the server side, expect fewer bits across the CDN, which can offset the cost of higher encode complexity, especially at scale. For smaller creators, the win is simpler: keep quality while using less upload bandwidth so your stream survives the occasional network wobble.
A Sensible Rollout Plan
You don’t need a giant migration day. Roll AV1 out safely in four steps:
- Test privately on your own devices with A/B recordings: H.264 vs AV1 at the same bitrate.
- Enable AV1 for recording or VOD first, where you control playback and can monitor device support.
- Offer AV1 live alongside H.264, letting platforms or players pick the right ladder per viewer.
- Measure and tune: look at rebuffering, watch time, and quality-of-experience metrics. Adjust bitrates and presets based on real data.
FAQ: Quick Answers to Common Questions
Do I need to change my audio?
No. Keep using AAC or Opus. AV1 only replaces your video codec. For WebRTC, Opus remains a great choice for speech.
Will AV1 help if my camera is low quality?
AV1 can’t invent detail that isn’t there. Improve capture first: decent lighting, higher shutter speed for motion, and sensible sharpening. Then AV1 can preserve the quality you feed it.
Can I edit AV1 directly?
Some editors support it, but many still feel sluggish with AV1. For complex edits, use an intra-frame mezzanine format, then export to AV1 at the end.
What about mobile data usage?
AV1’s bitrate savings help reduce data usage at the same visual quality. That’s one reason mobile platforms are adopting it for VOD and certain live scenarios.
What’s Next After AV1?
Work on next-gen codecs continues, but AV1 will be the workhorse for years. Hardware support is ramping fast, SVC is maturing in WebRTC stacks, and tools are improving monthly. Look for better HDR pipelines, smarter content-adaptive encoding that slashes busy scenes without hurting still moments, and broader support in consumer devices across price tiers.
Putting It All Together
AV1 is not just for big tech. With a mid-range GPU or a cloud workflow, you can make your streams clearer and your meetings more stable. Start small, keep fallbacks, and test with your actual content. The result is simple: better-looking video for more people, using less bandwidth.
Summary:
- AV1 delivers 20–40% bitrate savings over VP9 and bigger gains over H.264 at similar quality.
- Use hardware encoders (RTX 40, Intel Arc, AMD RDNA 3) for live; SVT-AV1 for efficient VOD.
- Adopt AV1 gradually with H.264 fallbacks for devices that can’t decode AV1.
- For OBS, use AV1 CBR for live and CQP/CRF for recordings; keep 2s keyframes and test presets.
- Meetings benefit from AV1 and SVC for resilient quality and better screen sharing.
- Package AV1 with DASH/CMAF; use HLS fallbacks for older iOS devices.
- Watch out for color/HDR pitfalls and tune bitrates instead of pushing too low.
- Measure rebuffering and device usage to fine-tune your ladders and rollout.
