AV2
| AOMedia Video 2 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developed by | Alliance for Open Media |
| Initial release | 28 May 2026 |
| Latest release | 1.0.0 28 May 2026 |
| Type of format | Video coding format |
| Extended from | AV1[1] |
| Standard | AV2 Bitstream & Decoding Process Specification |
| Open format? | Yes |
| Website | av2 |
AV2 is an open, royalty-free video coding format by the Alliance for Open Media, a non-profit technology development consortium. It is the successor to their existing and widely deployed AV1 encoding format, and is designed to deliver better compression performance, enhanced support for AR, VR and split-screen usage and support for a wider visual quality range.[1][2]
AV2 development work started in 2020, two years after the release of AV1.[3] It was released on 28 May 2026.[4]
AV2 uses an overall encoding framework that is similar to that of AV1, but with significant innovations in every part of that framework.[5] These include extended recursive partitioning, changes to transform block partitioning, semi-decoupled partitioning of luma and chroma, improvements to intra-frame prediction including chroma from luma, and new modes for inter-frame prediction.[5]
The Alliance for Open Media previously stated that AV2 will formally be released at the end of 2025, with hardware implementations expected in 2026.[1] At CES 2026, VLC 4.0 was demonstrated playing AV2 on a MacBook Pro.[6] On 9 June 2026 they announced AV2 in a blog post.[7]
AV2 will compete with the royalty-based format VVC for adoption in the market, in a way similar to the competition between the earlier generation HEVC and AV1 formats.[8] As of 2025, prototype AV2 implementations show around 30% lower bitrate over AV1 at similar visual quality, and AV2 is expected to offer similar performance to VVC overall.[2][3]
Adoption
[edit]Hardware
[edit]| Company | Chip/architecture | Type | Throughput | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegro DVT | Pulsar D400 | Decoder IP core | 8K | [9] |
| Chips&Media | WAVE63F1 | 8K@30fps | [10] | |
| VeriSilicon | VC9800D | Decoder | [11] |
Software
[edit]Patent claims
[edit]Even though it had not yet been released as of 14 January 2026, the Luxembourg-based non-practicing entity Sisvel[14] had already announced plans to establish a patent pool, as it did for AV1.[15]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "AOMedia Announces Year-End Launch of Next Generation Video Codec AV2 on 10th Anniversary". Alliance for Open Media. 2025-09-15. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
- 1 2 "AV2 video codec delivers 30% lower bitrate than AV1, final spec due in late 2025". VideoCardz.com. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
- 1 2 Ozer, Jan. "Inside AV2: Architecture, Performance, and Adoption Outlook". Streaming Learning Center. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
- ↑ Alliance for Open Media (2026-05-28). AV2 Bitstream & Decoding Process Specification, version 1.0.0 (Specification).
- 1 2 Norkin, Andrey (2025). "AV2 Video Codec Architecture" (PDF).
- ↑ Campbell, Mark (2026-01-09). "VideoLAN showcases AV2 playback on a "normal" laptop with VLC". OC3D. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
- ↑ "AOM blog".
- ↑ Hunter, Philip (2025-03-17). "Mobile Codecs: The Battle Of The Codecs Continues But AI May Disrupt The Field". www.thebroadcastbridge.com. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
- ↑ "Allegro DVT's Pulsar Decoder IP adds support for AV2 video codec". www.allegrodvt.com. Retrieved 2026-06-17.
- ↑ "Chips&Media Completes Development of Next-Gen 'AV2' HW Decoder IP, Accelerating Global Market Leadership". GlobeNewswire News Room. 2026-06-10. Retrieved 2026-06-17.
- ↑ "VeriSilicon Drives Commercial Adoption of AV2 Across Next-Generation Video and Streaming Applications". www.design-reuse.com. Retrieved 2026-06-17.
- ↑ "AVM AV2 reference software". Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ↑ "VideoLAN / dav2d". Retrieved 2026-06-18.
- ↑ "Sisvel brings Patent Wild West into Germany – Intellectual Property Expert Group". Intellectual Property Expert Group – Intellectual Property Expert Group. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
- ↑ "Sisvel | AV2 is coming, Sisvel is prepared". www.sisvel.com. Retrieved 2025-12-28.
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