Netflix has started streaming to TVs using the AV1 video codec. The video service had already been using the high-efficiency technology in its Android app last year, but has now expanded it to select TV sets too and the results have proved promising.
AV1 compresses video more efficiently without reducing picture quality. For anyone out and about, it means you can stream more content without racking up a huge phone bill. And those at home could stream higher-quality content (8K video, say) without requiring sky high internet speeds. Indeed, Netflix states that its test households have reported noticeable video quality improvements compared to the incumbent tech, MPEG4 and HEVC.
All of Netflix's AV1 streams are encoded in 10-bit colour depth and in the highest available resolution and frame rate including HFR (high frame rate), but not HDR for the time being.
According to Netflix, the trial has been going well with some streams having peak bitrates close to the upper limit allowed by the AV1 spec. That's 30Mbps for AV1 5.0 while level 5.1 maxes out at 40Mbps.
"This allows us to present the content exactly as creatively envisioned," Netflix said.
Don't worry if your TV isn't compatible. Netflix will still use the HEVC and MPEG4 AVC codecs, so you won't notice any difference.
