- AV1 offers the highest compression without loss of quality and without paying licenses.
- HEVC still dominates for compatibility with hardware, but it involves high licensing costs.
- VP9 is free and widely adopted, but outperformed in efficiency by AV1.
- The encoding speed of AV1 is its main disadvantage compared to VP9 and HEVC.
The evolution of video codecs has become increasingly important in recent years, especially due to the rise of streaming content on platforms like YouTube, Netflix , and Twitch. As image quality improves, technical and network requirements become more demanding. This is where three major contenders come into play: AV1 , HEVC (H.265) , and VP9 . Each has its own advantages , limitations , and recommended use cases.
In this article, we'll analyze all the differences, performance, efficiency, compatibility, licensing, and future prospects of these three codecs. If you're wondering which format is best for your video projects or simply interested in understanding how high-quality video is transmitted over the internet, stay tuned until the end.
What is AV1 and why is it so promising?
The AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) codec is a free and open-source video compression standard developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) , a consortium comprised of major players such as Google , Netflix, Amazon, Cisco, Intel , Microsoft, Mozilla, and Apple. It was publicly released in 2018 with a clear objective: to surpass HEVC and VP9 in both efficiency and accessibility , eliminating the licensing costs that make their adoption expensive.
One of AV1's key advantages is that it doesn't require royalty payments for its use, which is a major incentive, especially for open-source software developers and smaller creators. Furthermore, AV1 is designed to offer greater compression without loss of quality , meaning the same video can take up less space without sacrificing clarity.
In tests conducted by Facebook (now Meta), AV1 was able to outperform VP9 compression by 34% , and up to 50% compared to H.264 (x264). AV1 has also been shown to be between 20% and 30% more efficient than HEVC at similar bitrates.
Furthermore, compared to other codecs, AV1 is very flexible and scalable , making it an ideal choice for playing content at high resolutions such as 4K, 8K, and even 360° video with HDR . If you want to learn more about the best cameras for recording in 4K, you can check out this article on 4K webcams.
However, it's not all positive. AV1's biggest drawback so far has been its slow encoding speed . The complexity of its algorithm makes processing time considerably longer than VP9 or HEVC, complicating its use for live broadcasts or on systems with limited hardware.
The veteran HEVC (H.265): quality at a price
HEVC, also known as H.265, is the direct successor to H.264/AVC . It was created by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) to offer more efficient compression, and in fact, it is capable of reducing video size by approximately 50% compared to H.264, while maintaining similar quality.
This codec was released in 2013 and has a strong installed base in mobile devices , televisions, media players, professional cameras, and editing software. In fact, many current devices include hardware acceleration for HEVC, enabling very fast and efficient video encoding and decoding.
Despite its benefits, HEVC has a major problem hindering its adoption: licensing and royalties . Multiple patent holders exist (MPEG LA, HEVC Advance, Technicolor, etc.), each with their own fees and terms. This has led companies like Google and Mozilla to not openly support it, instead promoting alternatives such as VP9 and AV1.
Royalties don't just affect manufacturers. They also impact software and platforms : for example, some applications and operating systems require extra payment to enable HEVC playback, such as Windows , which charges a small fee to download the support from its official store. For more information on streaming high-quality video , see this article on image drivers.
VP9: The Google veteran still fighting
VP9 is another open-source codec, developed by Google in 2013 as the successor to VP8, and has been widely used in YouTube, Android , and browsers like Chrome and Firefox . Its main advantage is that it is also royalty-free , just like its successor, AV1.
In terms of performance, VP9 represents a significant improvement over H.264, with 30% to 50% greater compression . However, it lags somewhat behind in efficiency compared to HEVC and especially AV1, which surpasses it in almost every aspect.
Even so, VP9 remains a very valid option when you need good compression, broad compatibility, and reasonable encoding speed . Furthermore, its compatibility with older devices is slightly better than AV1's, which can be an advantage.
Netflix, for example, has shown that AV1 reduces data consumption by up to 20% compared to VP9 , while maintaining the same image quality. Despite this, VP9 is faster at encoding and requires fewer computational resources, making it ideal for situations where efficiency is needed without long processing times.
Technical comparison between AV1, HEVC and VP9
To better understand the differences, let's look at some key aspects:
- Compression: AV1 achieves the best compression of the three, followed by HEVC and then VP9.
- Quality: AV1 offers better quality at the same bit rate compared to HEVC and VP9.
- Compatibility: HEVC is the most widely supported today, although AV1 is rapidly gaining ground.
- Licenses: AV1 and VP9 are royalty-free; HEVC is paid and complex to license.
- Encoding speed: HEVC and VP9 are faster than AV1, although that is changing with new GPUs.
Furthermore, encoding tests performed by WinXDVD and MSU have shown that AV1 requires three times the processing time of HEVC. This is because it is not yet as optimized for hardware encoding, although the situation is improving with newer graphics cards, such as the Intel Arc, NVIDIA RTX 40 series, and AMD Radeon RX 7000 series.
Hardware and software support
In terms of playback and editing, HEVC is clearly the most widely supported , given its longer history. Many mobile devices, cameras, TVs, and software such as Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro offer native support.
AV1 still has a long way to go . Although it's already available in browsers like Chrome and Firefox, it's not yet supported in Safari or many professional video editors. Windows offers AV1 support through a free extension, and players like VLC require recent versions to decode it correctly. If you want to learn more about streaming video over a network using VLC, read this article on video streaming with VLC.
The good news is that the industry is heavily investing in AV1 : Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, and many other streaming platforms are starting to use it. Furthermore, Android 14 mandates AV1 support for new devices, which will accelerate global adoption.
And let's not forget that Apple is part of the Alliance for Open Media , although it has been reluctant to incorporate it into its devices. Everything suggests that, sooner or later, it will eventually give in.
Practical Applications: Which Codec Should You Use?
It depends on your specific situation:
- If you are a content creator for YouTube or streaming: AV1 is the codec of the future. YouTube already supports it, offering lighter, faster-loading videos with better quality.
- If you need compatibility with older hardware or are working live: HEVC or VP9 are faster and less demanding on resources.
- If you develop applications or software: AV1 is an attractive option due to its royalty-free nature, although you'll need to consider the hardware requirements.
Additionally, if you use programs like Filmora, OBS Studio, or Adobe Media Encoder, you can already start exporting in AV1 format if your hardware supports it. For tips on converting a presentation to video without losing quality, see this article on converting presentations to video.
Regarding images, AV1 has also given rise to the new AVIF format , which aims to replace JPG and PNG thanks to its high compression capacity without any visible loss of quality. It is a direct competitor to WebP and HEIC , although it is still in the phase of gradual adoption.
While AV1 leads in compression, scalability, and future-proofing , it still needs time and hardware support to completely displace HEVC and VP9. Recent improvements in GPU acceleration are paving the way for this, so it's only a matter of time before it becomes the dominant standard, especially for streaming and high-resolution content.
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