AV2 codec nearing completion

The AV2 codec, which is the successor to the AV1 codec, is nearing completion and is expected to be adopted soon. According to VideoCardz, Google's YouTube is preparing to use the new royalty-free codec on a large scale starting in early 2027, as stated by Jim Bankoski, vice president of engineering for Google Chrome.

YouTube plans to adopt AV2 soon

YouTube plans to use AV2 for video streaming through its web interface within a few months. This announcement comes as Google has already demonstrated AV2 playback in Chrome, and Amazon Prime and Netflix are also testing the new codec.

AV2 offers improved compression

The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), which manages the AV2 codec, states that the new standard offers compression approximately 30% more efficient than AV1. This improvement allows for less bandwidth use for comparable image quality or better image quality for the same bandwidth.

AV2 supports advanced video features

AV2 supports multi-stream and multi-view video, higher display frequencies, and improved HDR capabilities. It also enables video conferencing applications such as Zoom, Teams, and Meet to improve video exchange quality.

Google's progress with AV1

Google has confirmed that more than 90% of its video catalog, weighted by viewing time, was already available in AV1 format by March 2026. The transition to AV2 appears natural. However, it remains to be seen if hardware management of AV2 will arrive as quickly as its adoption by major SVoD platforms.

Hardware support for AV2 may lag

Intel is working on compatible hardware but has not specified whether current chips will soon support AV2 hardware acceleration. It will likely be necessary to wait until 2027-2028 for hardware support to be fully established, both at Intel and among its competitors.