What is AV1?
The AV1 codec will be the first video codec released by the AOM, and it is positioned to replace Google's VP9 and compete with the current HEVC standard. Although we won't know what the codec will be able to do until the official launch of AV1, the strong support from the AOM gives AV1 a huge competitive advantage, so that ensures the timely deployment of AV1 in browsers, mobile devices, OTT and Smart TVs as well as the rapid increase in the distribution of AV1-encoded content for YouTube, Netflix and Amazon. Of course AV1 faces challenges, starting with the fact that HEVC has been a leader in hardware deployment for many years, and the need to develop AV1 without infringing on the patents of H.264, HEVC, and other video-related IP owners has been questioned by leading experts. While the initial AV1 implementation will incorporate some of the features of Daala and Thor, much of its code comes from VP10, and the AOM's goal is to make AV1 50% more compressive than VP9/HEVC, allowing for a reasonable increase in encoding and playback complexity, with the main applications of AV1 being UHD video (including higher bit rates, wider color gamut, and increased frame rates) and has the ability to play 4K 60fps video on browsers on fairly fast computers, the base version of the codec will support 10bit and 12bit encoding as will BT.2020's color space, in addition to AV1's codec support for WebRTC (real-time communication). YouTube wants to convert video codecs to AV1 as soon as it's available, especially for UHD, HDR, and high-frame-rate video, where codecs need to realize more significant bandwidth savings than VP9