AV2 codec: 30% better efficiency than AV1
AV2 is a royalty-free video codec released in June 2026 and backed by Amazon, Apple, Google, Intel, Netflix and Samsung. According to the source, it delivers around 30% better compression efficiency than AV1 across a range of content and resolutions.
This comparison is based on metrics like VMAF and PSNR. In practice, that means you can get higher visual quality at the same bitrate, or similar quality at a much lower bitrate. For viewers, this should translate into sharper 4K streams with fewer buffering interruptions.
YouTube’s 2027 plan
YouTube is planning to add AV2 support to its web player as early as 2027. The goal is more efficient 4K streaming, taking advantage of AV2’s improved compression.
The article also references the first AV2 1.0.0 encoder, which is described as promising the same 30% efficiency gain over AV1.
Multi-stream and multi-camera capabilities
AV2 can also carry several streams and camera views in a single synchronized bitstream. According to the source, this should make the following scenarios more efficient:
- multi-angle feeds
- picture-in-picture layouts
- higher-resolution video conferencing
Together, AV2’s compression efficiency and multi-stream features position it as a codec aimed at next-generation 4K and multi-view streaming, including future YouTube playback in the browser.
Source: Gündəm · tweaktown.com
