- AV1 promises to cut video data use by about 30 percent for smoother mobile streaming.
- Hardware decoding is limited to high-end phones, leaving many devices reliant on power-hungry software decoders.
- Streaming platforms face complex rollout challenges due to inconsistent device performance.
- Encoding AV1 at scale increases energy demands in data centers despite network efficiency gains.
A group of the biggest names in tech is betting on a new video codec to improve mobile streaming. Google, Meta, YouTube, and Vodafone have joined forces to push AV1, a standard that promises to cut video data use by about 30 percent compared to older codecs.
The technology was first introduced in 2018 by the Alliance for Open Media. For years it remained in the background, but now it is gaining momentum as mobile video traffic continues to grow.
Video accounts for nearly 70 to 80 percent of all mobile data worldwide. This puts pressure on networks and frustrates viewers who experience buffering and lag. A codec like AV1 could make a difference by reducing data loads and improving video quality.
The Hardware Challenge
AV1’s promise comes with a catch. To get smooth playback and energy efficiency, devices need special hardware built to decode AV1. That hardware support is currently found mostly in flagship phones such as the iPhone 15 Pro, Google’s latest Pixel devices, and recent high-end Samsung models.
Many budget and mid-range phones still lack this hardware. These devices rely on software decoders such as the popular open-source dav1d. While software decoding works, it consumes far more power, drains batteries faster, and often cannot handle premium video that requires strict digital rights management.
This gap between devices creates a patchy experience for viewers. Streaming platforms must often guess whether a specific phone can handle AV1 without freezing, overheating, or draining too much power.
Complex Rollout for Platforms
For platforms like YouTube and Netflix, the lack of consistent hardware support means more work behind the scenes. They need to use complex models to predict how each type of device will handle AV1 at different resolutions.
Some chipmakers have started offering optimized software decoders tuned for their own processors. However, performance remains unpredictable across the vast range of Android phones.
Without a universal standard to measure performance, streaming services have to tread carefully. Delivering a great experience for some users could mean a frustrating one for others.
Energy Costs Shift Upstream
The benefits of AV1 for mobile networks are clear. Smaller video files mean less data clogging up already strained networks. Operators see it as a way to improve playback quality and reduce the need for costly infrastructure upgrades.
Yet there is another side to the story. Encoding AV1 video requires significantly more computing power than older codecs. For companies like Google and Meta, that means higher energy use in their data centers.
This shifts the energy burden from mobile networks to cloud infrastructure. It also highlights a trade-off: the efficiency gains for mobile users come at the cost of more power-hungry processing behind the scenes.
Future Potential with Lingering Uncertainty
Supporters of AV1 say that its advantages will outweigh the challenges as hardware adoption spreads. If more budget phones gain hardware decoding in the next few years, AV1 could truly become the default for mobile streaming.
Analysts say that wider use of AV1 could save hundreds of petabytes of mobile data traffic in Europe each year. That would mean smoother streams for millions of viewers and lower costs for operators.
However, the shift will not happen overnight. While the industry is already looking ahead to AV2, the next-generation codec, most mobile users will not feel the full benefits of AV1 for some time.
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