VP9
Google’s royalty-free codec with 35% better compression. The standard for YouTube and WebM.
AV1
Open, royalty-free codec delivering 50% better compression than H.264. The future of efficient delivery.
Overview
What is AV1
AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is an open, royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) — a consortium that includes Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and Intel. Released in 2018, AV1 achieves approximately 30% better compression than H.264 and ~20% better than H.265 at equivalent perceptual quality. AV1’s royalty-free status eliminates the complex licensing landscape that affects H.264 and H.265. The trade-off is encoding speed: AV1 software encoding is 5–20× slower than H.264, though hardware encoders (NVIDIA RTX 40+, Intel Arc, AMD RDNA 3+) are closing the gap. Browser support covers Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari 17+, while hardware decode is available on devices from 2022 onward.
Decision Guide
When to Choose AV1
Choose AV1 when:
- Royalty costs matter — AV1 is completely royalty-free, eliminating the licensing complexity of H.264 and H.265.
- You need maximum compression efficiency for large-scale delivery — AV1’s 50%+ savings over H.264 compound at scale.
- Your target devices support AV1 decode — Chrome, Firefox, Safari 17+, and devices from 2022+ cover the majority of modern viewers.
Consider alternatives when:
- You need to reach older devices (pre-2022 smart TVs, older iOS) — H.264 has universal support; H.265 covers most 2017+ devices.
- Encoding speed is critical — AV1 is 5–20× slower than H.264. For real-time or high-throughput workflows, H.264 or H.265 are faster.
- You need a WebM container — VP9 has broader support today, though AV1 support is growing.
Try it
Transcoding Demo
Source video
URL
Upload File
Sample Video
Source Type
URL
Select a source video and click “Convert” to see AV1 output in action.
Reference
Key Characteristics
| Standard | Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), 2018 |
| Compression efficiency | ~30% better than H.264, ~20% better than H.265 at equivalent quality (per Netflix VMAF) |
| Royalty status | Royalty-free, open-source |
| Hardware decode support | NVIDIA RTX 30+, AMD RDNA 2+, Intel Gen12+, Apple M3+, MediaTek Dimensity 1000+, Samsung Exynos 2100+ |
| Hardware encode support | NVIDIA RTX 40+ (AV1 NVENC), Intel Arc, AMD RDNA 3+ |
| Browser support | Chrome 70+, Firefox 67+, Edge 79+, Safari 17+ (macOS Sonoma / iOS 17) |
| Container support | MP4, WebM, HLS (via fmp4), DASH, CMAF |
| Max resolution | 16K |
| Encoding speed | 5–20× slower than H.264 (software), 2–4× slower (hardware) |
| Typical use case | High-efficiency delivery where royalty cost matters; YouTube, Netflix, bandwidth-constrained markets |
Compatibility
Browser & Device Support
Platform | H.264 | H.265 | AV1 | VP9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chrome (desktop) | 70+ | 29+ | ||
Firefox (desktop) | 67+ | 28+ | ||
Safari (macOS) | 11+ | 17+ | ||
Edge | HEVC ext. | 79+ | 79+ | |
iOS Safari | 11+ | 17+ | ||
Android Chrome | device-dep. | 93+ | ||
Smart TVs (Tizen) | 2017+ | 2022+ | ||
Smart TVs (webOS) | 2018+ | 2023+ | ||
Roku / Fire TV | 4K models | 2023+ | ||
Game consoles | PS5, Xbox S/X | PS5, Xbox S/X |
Implementation
How Qencode Handles AV1
Qencode encodes AV1 using optimized libsvtav1 (software) and hardware-accelerated encoders where available. Specify libsvtav1 as the video codec in any output format. Qencode automatically manages AV1’s tile-based parallelism and rate control for optimal quality-to-speed balance.
Pair AV1 with Per-Title Encoding for the absolute maximum compression efficiency, or combine with Upscaling to deliver AV1-encoded 4K from lower-resolution sources.
Request Example
MP4 output with AV1
{
"query": {
"source": "https://your-storage.com/video.mp4",
"format": [
{
"output": "mp4",
"video_codec": "libsvtav1",
"resolution": 2160,
"quality": 20
}
]
}
}Copy this payload and use it with your API key to generate AV1 output from any video source.
View Parameter Referencecomparison
AV1 vs. H.265
AV1 | H.265 (HEVC) | |
|---|---|---|
Compression (vs H.264) | ~50% better | ~40% better |
Royalty status | Royalty-free | Licensed (complex) |
Encoding speed | 5–20× slower than H.264 | 2–3× slower than H.264 |
Hardware decode | 2022+ devices | 2017+ devices |
Browser support | Chrome, Firefox, Safari 17+, Edge | Safari, Edge only |
Best for | Maximum efficiency, royalty-free | 4K on older smart TVs, Apple ecosystem |
For a detailed H.265 breakdown, see H.265
Pricing
What It Costs
Resolution | AV1 |
|---|---|
SD (< 960 x 720) 0 - 691199 pixels | $0.015 |
HD (2160 x 1080) 691200 - 2332800 pixels | $0.03 |
1440 (2880 x 1440) 2332801 - 4147200 pixels | $0.075 |
4K (4096 x 2048) 4147201 - 8388608 pixels | $0.135 |
5K (5120 x 2560) 8388609 - 13107200 pixels | $0.24 |
6K (6144 x 3072) 13107201 - 18874368 pixels | $0.36 |
7K (7168 x 3584) 18874361 - 25690112 pixels | $0.48 |
8K (8192 x 4096) 25690113 - 33554432 pixels | $0.66 |
10K (10240 x 5120) 33554433 - 52428800 pixels | $1.05 |
12K (12288 x 6144) 52428801 - 75497472 pixels | $1.5 |
14K (14336 x 7168) 75497473 - 102760448 pixels | $2.04 |
16K (16384 x 8192) 102760449 - 134217728 pixels | $2.64 |
- Preset: 3 or 4
- 2.5x
- Preset: 1 or 2
- 8x
- film-grain
- 2.5x
- pred-struct = 1
- 2x
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