# AV1

Open, royalty-free codec delivering 50% better compression than H.264. The future of efficient delivery.

## What is AV1

AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is an open, royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) — a consortium that includes Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and Intel. Released in 2018, AV1 achieves approximately 30% better compression than H.264 and ~20% better than H.265 at equivalent perceptual quality. AV1’s royalty-free status eliminates the complex licensing landscape that affects H.264 and H.265. The trade-off is encoding speed: AV1 software encoding is 5–20× slower than H.264, though hardware encoders (NVIDIA RTX 40+, Intel Arc, AMD RDNA 3+) are closing the gap. Browser support covers Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari 17+, while hardware decode is available on devices from 2022 onward.

## When to Choose AV1

Choose AV1 when:

- Royalty costs matter — AV1 is completely royalty-free, eliminating the licensing complexity of H.264 and H.265.
- You need maximum compression efficiency for large-scale delivery — AV1’s 50%+ savings over H.264 compound at scale.
- Your target devices support AV1 decode — Chrome, Firefox, Safari 17+, and devices from 2022+ cover the majority of modern viewers.

Consider alternatives when:

- You need to reach older devices (pre-2022 smart TVs, older iOS) — H.264 has universal support; H.265 covers most 2017+ devices.
- Encoding speed is critical — AV1 is 5–20× slower than H.264. For real-time or high-throughput workflows, H.264 or H.265 are faster.
- You need a WebM container — VP9 has broader support today, though AV1 support is growing.

## Transcoding Demo

#### Source video

Enter URL for Source Video

Select a video you want to transcode

Maximum file size: 5GB

Transcoding demo creates a small clip with a watermark. To test transcoding full files, select a source video and click “Convert” to see AV1 output in action.

## Key Characteristics

|     |     |
| --- | --- |
| Standard | Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), 2018 |
| Compression efficiency | ~30% better than H.264, ~20% better than H.265 at equivalent quality (per Netflix VMAF) |
| Royalty status | Royalty-free, open-source |
| Hardware decode support | NVIDIA RTX 30+, AMD RDNA 2+, Intel Gen12+, Apple M3+, MediaTek Dimensity 1000+, Samsung Exynos 2100+ |
| Hardware encode support | NVIDIA RTX 40+ (AV1 NVENC), Intel Arc, AMD RDNA 3+ |
| Browser support | Chrome 70+, Firefox 67+, Edge 79+, Safari 17+ (macOS Sonoma / iOS 17) |
| Container support | MP4, WebM, HLS (via fmp4), DASH, CMAF |
| Max resolution | 16K |
| Encoding speed | 5–20× slower than H.264 (software), 2–4× slower (hardware) |
| Typical use case | High-efficiency delivery where royalty cost matters; YouTube, Netflix, bandwidth-constrained markets |

## Browser & Device Support

| Platform | H.264 | H.265 | AV1 | VP9 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chrome (desktop) |   |   | 70+ | 29+ |
| Firefox (desktop) |   |   | 67+ | 28+ |
| Safari (macOS) |   | 11+ | 17+ |   |
| Edge |   | HEVC ext. | 79+ | 79+ |
| iOS Safari |   | 11+ | 17+ |   |
| Android Chrome |   | device-dep. | 93+ |   |
| Smart TVs (Tizen) |   | 2017+ | 2022+ |   |
| Smart TVs (webOS) |   | 2018+ | 2023+ |   |
| Roku / Fire TV |   | 4K models | 2023+ |   |
| Game consoles |   | PS5, Xbox S/X | PS5, Xbox S/X |   |

## How Qencode Handles AV1

Qencode encodes AV1 using optimized libsvtav1 (software) and hardware-accelerated encoders where available. Specify libsvtav1 as the video codec in any output format. Qencode automatically manages AV1’s tile-based parallelism and rate control for optimal quality-to-speed balance.

## AV1 vs. H.265

|  | AV1 | H.265 (HEVC) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Compression (vs H.264) | ~50% better | ~40% better |
| Royalty status | Royalty-free | Licensed (complex) |
| Encoding speed | 5–20× slower than H.264 | 2–3× slower than H.264 |
| Hardware decode | 2022+ devices | 2017+ devices |
| Browser support | Chrome, Firefox, Safari 17+, Edge | Safari, Edge only |
| Best for | Maximum efficiency, royalty-free | 4K on older smart TVs, Apple ecosystem |

## What It Costs

| Resolution | AV1 |
| --- | --- |
| SD (< 960 x 720) 0 - 691199 pixels | $0.015<br>$0.023 |
| HD (2160 x 1080) 691200 - 2332800 pixels | $0.03<br>$0.045 |
| 1440 (2880 x 1440)  2332801 - 4147200 pixels | $0.075<br>$0.112 |
| 4K (4096 x 2048)  4147201 - 8388608 pixels | $0.135<br>$0.203 |
| 5K (5120 x 2560)  8388609 - 13107200 pixels | $0.24<br>$0.36 |
| 6K (6144 x 3072)  13107201 - 18874368 pixels | $0.36<br>$0.54 |
| 7K (7168 x 3584)  18874361 - 25690112 pixels | $0.48<br>$0.72 |
| 8K (8192 x 4096)  25690113 - 33554432 pixels | $0.66<br>$0.99 |
| 10K (10240 x 5120)  33554433 - 52428800 pixels | $1.05<br>$1.575 |
| 12K (12288 x 6144)  52428801 - 75497472 pixels | $1.5<br>$2.25 |
| 14K (14336 x 7168)  75497473 - 102760448 pixels | $2.04<br>$3.06 |
| 16K (16384 x 8192)  102760449 - 134217728 pixels | $2.64<br>$3.96 |

| Source Video Minutes | Cost |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | $0.02 |

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