Every video you watch on a smartphone, tablet, or other device has to be run through some decoder, and AV1 has long been touted as the “next big thing.” To get around AV1 hardware requirements, though, Google has quietly added a software-based AV1 decoder to the vast majority of Android devices.
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Google is a big proponent of the open AV1 video codec, especially on the YouTube and streaming device front. On Android, Qualcomm is a notable holdout and has so far not supported AV1 on its Snapdragon chips, but that might be changing this year.
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The AV1 streaming codec is something that Google and others are behind bringing to the mass market, and slowly it’s expanding. This week, following successful tests on Android smartphones and tablets, Netflix has announced that it will bring AV1 to TVs.
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Netflix announced today that it’s beginning to stream video using AV1 on Android. This high-performance, royalty-free codec provides 20% improved compression efficiency over VP9.
AV1 is an open, industry-backed codec that will allow for more efficient and better quality video streaming. YouTube is beginning to test AV1 through an initial beta with Chrome 70 and Firefox Nightly on desktops now supporting it.