AV1: an open but debated option
Since HEVC support confuses users and challenges technology companies, an alternative codec addresses most of the complexities associated with HEVC.
AOmedia Video 1 (AV1) was created as an open, royalty-free video codec by a group of companies called the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) that were tired of dealing with HEVC patent licensing. AV1 was launched in 2018 under a royalty-free patent policy, and its reference implementations use a permissive software license (available here). In 2023, AOMedia, whose members include Amazon, Apple, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Samsung, claimed that AV1 is 30 percent more efficient than HEVC.
“AOMedia believes that its royalty-free patent policy and permissive copyright licenses help bring next-generation media experiences to more people faster,” Dr. Pierre-Anthony Lemieux, AOmedia’s executive director, told me.
HEVC was introduced in 2013, so companies had several years to adopt it before AV1 arrived. But even after eight years the AV1 is less common than you might expect, largely due to compatibility issues. Its estimated efficiency compared to HEVC arises from the use of more advanced algorithms. But those algorithms usually require more compression and more powerful hardware. In 2023, AOMedia member Meta cited client-side hardware decoding as AV1’s biggest hurdle.
According to a 2025 report by The Verge, after the release of AV1, some hardware companies were reluctant to adopt AV1 decoders because the upgraded requirements could drive up consumer prices. AV1 support would also bring cumbersome and unreasonable complexity and cost to some gadgets, including budget smartphones and Blu-ray players (the former rarely support AV1, and the latter usually not).
Software solutions can handle client-side decoding, but they can also consume more computing resources and drain battery life.
As a result, some components, streaming devices and many end devices, especially smartphones, have recently added hardware-based AV1 support – or support it only partially, such as for decoding alone.
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