Katarzyna Petru
Netflix officially confirms: the transition to the AV1 codec is accelerating, and new data shows that the change of standard is practically a foregone conclusion. The platform revealed the current state of implementation and plans regarding the future of video encoding.
AV1 is growing faster than anticipated
Since entering streaming in 2007, Netflix primarily relied on H.264/AVC and later gradually transitioned to HEVC. However, AV1 has now become a key component of the company's strategy. According to the latest report, AV1 is already responsible for approximately 30 percent of all streams on the platform.
“AV1 is our second most used codec and will soon become number one” – reports Netflix. This is the result of years of investment in open and efficient encoding standards.
Better quality, less buffering
On TVs, AV1 outperforms AVC and HEVC in terms of both picture quality and transmission efficiency:
on average 33 percent lower data usage,
45 percent fewer buffering interruptions,
better detail reproduction and film grain thanks to Film Grain Synthesis, where the grain is removed during compression, and the player adds it back without quality loss.
This is crucial for HDR quality, especially in film content.
Where does AV1 work? Practically on all new televisions
Netflix reminds us that since 2021, 88 percent of large screens submitted for certification by the platform offer hardware support for AV1 — mainly Smart TVs, set-top boxes, and streaming devices. By 2023, almost every new device model submitted supports AV1 at 4K@60 fps. Important implementation milestones:
2021 – AV1 launch on TVs,
2022 – browser support,
2023 – Apple adds hardware decoder in M3 and A17 Pro,
2025 – Netflix launches HDR10+ in AV1 on Samsung TVs.
The latest Google TV Streamer has supported AV1 since launch, and Apple TV 4K will do so, provided it gets a chipset of at least A17 Pro. Nvidia Shield — still no announcement for an update.
AV1 will come to live sports and cloud gaming
Netflix has officially confirmed that it is testing AV1 in live broadcasts — including sports. This aims to reduce the risk of buffering during dynamic scenes. A second important announcement: AV1 will be used in Netflix's cloud gaming. Better compression is expected to shorten delays and improve quality in games streamed to TVs and mobile devices.
What about the remaining 70 percent of streams?
The reasons are mainly:
lack of hardware support on older devices,
limitations in HDR10 and Dolby Vision streams, which are just gaining momentum in AV1.
Netflix does not plan to implement VVC (H.266), even though it is the official successor to HEVC.
Netflix confirms interest in AV2
The announcement also confirmed that AV2 is approaching its premiere. Although the company hasn't provided a rollout date, it clearly suggests that this will be the next step after AV1:
“AV2 is the future of streaming, but AV1 is the present.”
The first devices supporting AV2 have not yet been announced.
