AV2 Video is coming to YouTube in early 2027
The AV2 video codec is gaining momentum, with plans for broad industry support
The recently released AV2 codec is gaining traction much sooner than expected, with YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video already exploring the format. With the promise of 30% greater compression efficiency than AV1, AV2 promises boosted video quality and/or much lower video bandwidth/bitrate requirements. With new improvements to multi-view video and more, it’s easy to see why AV2 is of interest to the streaming industry.
The Alliance of Open Media (AOMedia) launched AV2 in June, and these new standards typically take years to gain widespread adoption. With AV2, the standard is gaining traction a lot faster than normal, with partners targeting support for 2027, with YouTube being the first to support the standard.
Demonstrating AV2 playback in Chrome is an exciting early step toward better video on the web.
We’re encouraged by the momentum around AV2, with partners like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video exploring the format and showing strong support for the technology. Beyond faster, higher-quality streaming, AV2 lays the groundwork for new browser experiences, from better multi-view video to higher-resolution, more efficient video conferencing.
– Jim Bankoski, VP, Engineering, Google Chrome
AV2 support is coming to YouTube 0n early 2027
YouTube plans to begin streaming AV2 content in “early 2027”. Right now, YouTube over 90% of YouTube’s content (by watch time) is available in AV1. With AV2, YouTube can offer users higher quality streams without increasing its bandwidth utilisation. Alternatively, YouTube can offer the same video quality as today with much lower bandwidth requirements.
YouTube champions open codecs that deliver the best quality video with the fewest playback interruptions. As of March 19, 2026, over 90% of YouTube’s catalog (weighted by watch time) is available in AV1. And we’re excited to begin streaming in AV2, which brings even better video quality to users and unlocks new multi-video capabilities. YouTube AV2 streams will be available for Web as soon as early 2027.
– Des Keane, Engineering Director at YouTube
Meta also plans to support AV2
Meta has also confirmed that it plans to utilise the AV2 codec. Like YouTube, Meta uses AV1 widely on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta is a founding member of the Alliance for Open Media and continues to be a strong supporter of its charter and open technologies. Our investment has made AV1 the most popular delivery format for Facebook and Instagram videos, improving quality of experience for billions worldwide. We’re committed to continuing that same path with AV2, carrying our investments through its productization journey and making it as successful as AV1. Beyond video, we’re investing in the Open Audio Codec (OAC) and Open Audio Renderer (OAR), driving next-generation audio coding and rendering through leadership and technical contributions in the Audio Codec Working Group.
– Hassene Tmar, Technical Program Manager at Meta
AV2 still lacks hardware decoding support, preventing widespread adoption
Right now, AV2 video decoding is only available in software. No hardware currently supports AV2 decoding, and implementing hardware decoding support could take years. AV2 needs hardware decoding to decode efficiently, which is a major barrier to mainstream adoption.
Ultimately, hardware decoding support will prevent AV2 from receiving adoption as a physical media standard. Today’s Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray players lack AV1 decoding, never mind AV2 decoding support. They also cannot be added to Blu-ray media without a change to their respective standards. Those standard changes would also require new hardware, which many would find unacceptable. Even if it improves the medium’s quality, consumers don’t want to be forced to buy expensive new players to use new discs.
It will take time, but AV2 will gain wider adoption. Hardware support will take time, as will support from content providers. Regardless, AV2’s benefits are obvious.
Join the discussion on AV2 video support coming to YouTube on the OC3D Forums.
