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Illustration of AV1 in video calling

AV1

Technical

AOMedia Video 1 - the next-generation open video codec delivering superior compression for video calls

What is AV1?

AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is an open-source, royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). Designed as the successor to VP9, AV1 delivers approximately 30-50% better compression efficiency than its predecessors, meaning higher quality video at lower bitrates. For video calling, this translates to clearer faces, sharper screen shares, and smoother calls even on limited bandwidth connections.

The Alliance for Open Media was founded in 2015 by tech giants including Google, Mozilla, Cisco, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. Their mission was to create a codec that could deliver cutting-edge compression without the patent licensing complexities that plagued H.265/HEVC. The result is AV1—a codec that anyone can implement without royalty payments.

Why AV1 Matters for Video Calling

Video calling platforms face a constant challenge: delivering the best possible quality while minimizing bandwidth consumption. AV1 addresses this challenge with several key advantages:

  • Superior compression: AV1 achieves 30-50% better compression than VP9 and up to 50% better than H.264. This means a 720p video call that previously required 1.5 Mbps might only need 750 Kbps with AV1
  • Better quality at same bitrate: When bandwidth is fixed, AV1 delivers noticeably clearer video with fewer compression artifacts
  • Excellent for screen sharing: AV1 includes specialized compression tools optimized for text and screen content, making screen shares with code, documents, or presentations significantly sharper
  • Royalty-free: Unlike H.265/HEVC, AV1 can be implemented without paying licensing fees, encouraging broader adoption

AV1 vs VP9 vs H.264: A Practical Comparison

Understanding how AV1 compares to existing codecs helps explain why platforms are gradually adopting it:

Compression Efficiency

  • H.264: Baseline, widely compatible but least efficient
  • VP9: ~50% more efficient than H.264
  • AV1: ~30-50% more efficient than VP9

CPU Requirements

AV1's superior compression comes at a cost—it requires significantly more processing power to encode:

  • H.264: Light CPU usage, easy to encode in real-time
  • VP9: Medium CPU usage, manageable for most modern devices
  • AV1: Heavy CPU usage, benefits greatly from hardware acceleration

This higher computational requirement is why AV1 adoption in real-time video calling has been gradual—devices need hardware encoders to make it practical.

Hardware Acceleration: The Key to AV1 Adoption

The availability of hardware AV1 encoders and decoders is rapidly expanding. As of 2025, hardware support includes:

  • Intel: Arc GPUs and 11th-gen+ CPUs support hardware AV1 encoding
  • NVIDIA: RTX 40 series GPUs feature AV1 encoding
  • AMD: RX 7000 series and Ryzen 7000+ APUs support AV1
  • Apple: M3 chips and later include hardware AV1 decoding
  • Qualcomm: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2+ supports AV1 encode/decode
  • MediaTek: Dimensity 9000+ series support AV1

This growing hardware ecosystem is enabling platforms like Google Meet to deploy AV1 for improved call quality without draining users' batteries.

Scalable Video Coding (SVC) in AV1

One of AV1's most powerful features for video conferencing is its native support for Scalable Video Coding (SVC). SVC allows a single encoded video stream to contain multiple layers of quality that can be extracted independently:

  • Spatial scalability: Different resolution layers (e.g., 360p, 720p, 1080p)
  • Temporal scalability: Different frame rate layers (e.g., 15fps, 30fps, 60fps)
  • Quality scalability: Different quality levels at the same resolution

For multi-party video calls using an SFU architecture, SVC is invaluable. The sender encodes once, and the SFU selectively forwards appropriate layers to each recipient based on their bandwidth and display size—without re-encoding.

Browser and Platform Support

AV1 support in browsers has expanded significantly:

  • Chrome: Full WebRTC AV1 support since Chrome 90
  • Firefox: AV1 decode support, WebRTC encode support in progress
  • Edge: Full support (Chromium-based)
  • Safari: AV1 decode on macOS Ventura+ and iOS 16+ (with hardware support)

Major video conferencing platforms adopting AV1 include Google Meet (launched AV1 support in 2023) and Jitsi. Others are following as hardware support becomes more widespread.

Real-World Impact: Google Meet's AV1 Implementation

Google Meet's deployment of AV1 provides a real-world example of the codec's benefits. When participants have compatible hardware, Meet automatically uses AV1 for:

  • Higher quality video at the same bandwidth
  • More participants in gallery view without quality degradation
  • Sharper screen sharing, especially for text-heavy content
  • Better performance in bandwidth-constrained environments

The Future: AV2 on the Horizon

While AV1 adoption is still growing, the Alliance for Open Media is already developing AV2, the next-generation codec. Expected to deliver another 20-30% efficiency improvement over AV1, AV2 will likely incorporate AI-enhanced compression techniques and better support for emerging use cases like 8K video and volumetric content.

For now, AV1 represents the cutting edge of practical video compression for real-time communication—a technology that's increasingly powering clearer, more efficient video calls worldwide.

References

Related Terms

WebRTCBitrateBandwidthAdaptive Bitrate (ABR)Simulcast
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