Vimeo announces AV1 codec support

Vimeo has announced it will support royalty-free video codec AV1 which enables HD and UHD content to be streamed at a lower bitrate.

The codec has been developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) and is the result of innovation and collaboration from the world’s best-known leaders in video.

Vimeo joined the AOM last year.

Vimeo senior vice president of technology Naren Venkataraman said: “AV1 is setting a new standard for video compression and delivery over the web, and will greatly improve the quality and availability of content streamed on our platform to global audiences.

“This launch is a major step forward in Vimeo’s ongoing commitment to providing the best video experiences to our creators, and a significant milestone in AV1 becoming ubiquitous across the industry.”

Vimeo empowers video creators of all kinds to share stories and connect with their audiences and communities globally. It is home to more than 80 million members across 150 countries.

It is an ad-free open video platform and provides the tools to host, share and sell videos in the best quality for content creators.

Read more Tech giants lead protest for net neutrality

Vimeo collaborated with one of the founding members of the AOM, Mozilla, in launching support for AV1, leveraging and contributing to the Mozilla open-source encoder rav1e. 

Vimeo lead engineer, encoding Vittorio Giovara said: “We’re proud to contribute to the development of the rav1e encoder and to join Mozilla’s efforts for free and open video. Together, we’re building a strong foundation for the next generation video codec.”

Setting a new standard
In a company blog post, Giovara said: ”Everyone should have access to technology that will help them share their videos in the best possible quality for global audiences to enjoy.

“Supporting AV1 is more than providing an excellent video experience (although that is a major part of it); we’re joining the movement for royalty-free video and furthering our commitment to empowering open-source communities across the industry, all over the world.”

The next generation codec is a collaboration by a host of technology organisations including Google, Mozilla, Cisco, Intel, Twitch, Microsoft, and more.

AV1 enables global creators to stream video content at a reduced bitrate without loss of visual quality.

Giovara added: ”In other words, if you happen to be in a part of the world where you might not have the best internet connection, AV1 will still provide you with an impeccable viewing experience.”

AV1 is in the beginning phases of its development and deployment but Giovara noted: “It is being adopted faster than any other royalty-free codec before it. So, expect more innovation around AV1 in the future.”

• Read more Intel and Netflix to deliver AV1 codec