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AV1™

AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is an open, royalty-free video compression format developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). Designed as the successor to older video codecs like H.264 and VP9, AV1 delivers significant improvements in compression efficiency, allowing for higher quality video at lower bitrates—crucial for modern applications where bandwidth and storage are premium resources.

What is AV1?​

AV1 is a modern video codec that enables efficient video streaming and storage across diverse platforms and network conditions. AV1 reduces bandwidth consumption and storage requirements while maintaining or improving video quality.

Key characteristics of AV1:

  • Open and royalty-free: No licensing fees required, making it accessible for widespread adoption
  • Superior compression: Delivers the same visual quality as older codecs at significantly lower bitrates
  • Wide compatibility: Supported by major browsers, media players, and hardware platforms
  • Future-proof: Built to handle modern resolutions and use cases, from HD to 4K and beyond

Why AV1 matters​

For developers and integrators working with video surveillance and streaming:

  • Reduced bandwidth costs: Lower bitrates mean reduced network infrastructure demands
  • Improved storage efficiency: Store more video footage in the same amount of space
  • Better user experience: Faster loading times and smoother playback, especially on constrained networks
  • Broad ecosystem support: Growing adoption across browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge), hardware decoders, and software frameworks like FFmpeg

AV1 in Axis devices​

Axis supports the AV1 video encoding standard on devices equipped with the ARTPEC-9 system-on-chip (SoC). Our implementation is fully compliant with the Alliance for Open Media AV1 specifications, supporting the Main Profile with 8-bit color depth for compatibility across a wide range of platforms.

For integration guidance and technical details, see the AV1 integration guide.

For how to setup togglable overlays in AV1™ streams, see the AV1 togglable overlays guide.

AV1™ is a trademark of the Alliance for Open Media, a Joint Development Foundation project/The Linux Foundation.

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