While we're still waiting for the next generation of H.266 (or VRR), it's the AV2 that could well take the wind out of its sails.
For many users, video is either in the old AVI or MPG format, or in more recent formats such as MP4 or MKV. In reality, with the exception of MPG, these formats are merely containers: files that bring together animated sequences and audio tracks, but without actually imposing codecs. Codecs are the bits of software that determine the quality of the video and, of course, the space it will take up. To be perfectly accurate, the same applies to audio, and one of the best-known audio codecs is undoubtedly MP3, even if it is now largely outdated.
The main technical features of the AV2 codec © VideoCardz
In the field of video, too, progress has rendered obsolete codecs that have delighted users for years. H.264, for example, has been supplanted by H.265, which is slow to replace it completely, as there is a certain inertia between the moment when a codec is finalized, the moment when the industry is in a position to adopt it and, finally, the moment when devices capable of using said codec represent a sufficient percentage of users for it to cause the decline of the previous fashionable codec. This is what is now happening with H.265, which is now easily decoded by most machines (boxes, computers, smartphones, tablets) as encoders become more and more efficient.
But perhaps H.265 won't have much time to enjoy its moment of glory, as the AV1 codec is rapidly gaining ground and, above all, AV2 is already showing its face. Set up by the AOMedia consortium (Alliance for Open Media), the AV1 and AV2 codecs are backed by such powerful companies as Amazon, Apple, ARM, Cisco, Google, Huawei, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, NVIDIA, Samsung and Tencent. To avoid competition, these companies have opted for free formats, and this is clearly the strength of the AV1 and AV2 codecs. Technically speaking, they have nothing to envy to H2.65 and its designated successor, H.266, also known as VRR.
The AV2 has a much better filter for deblocking © VideoCardz
AV1 is already significantly more powerful than H.265, but according to AOMedia, the AV2 codec will go even further. Designed to meet " the growing demand for streaming worldwide, it offers significantly better compression performance than AV1 ". This means a 30% lower bitrate for equivalent image quality, which means significantly smaller files or, for equivalent file sizes, significantly improved image quality. AV2 is said to be on the point of being finalized, with release scheduled for the end of the year and rapid adoption by major market players. The new video standard, then?
