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Netflix just announced that it is delivering AV1 video with HDR10+ to certified devices, which means that AV1 has achieved practical parity with HEVC for premium content delivery. This long-awaited announcement, when combined with YouTube’s proprietary HDR support, tends to indicate that there is a critical mass of AV1/HDR10+ capable devices worth addressing.
Let’s review the history. Netflix started streaming AV1 to smart TVs in 2021, but it was SDR only, so HEVC was carrying the most valuable content. The AV1 HDR10+ specification was finalized in October 2023, and now, approximately 16 months later, Netflix is distributing AV1 with HDR10+.
This is significant. HDR10+ brings dynamic metadata, enhancing visual fidelity, a crucial element for premium viewing experiences. AV1, more efficient than HEVC, can now fully deliver that premium HDR experience. To ensure a high-quality experience, Netflix limits delivery of AV1/HDR10+ to certified devices.
YouTube’s existing support for AV1 HDR provides valuable insight into market viability. The hardware requirements for YouTube’s HDR playback overlap significantly with those of Netflix, suggesting a substantial installed base of compatible devices. Combined with Netflix’s move, it could signal that it’s time for other services to start delivering to this market.
Numbers are hard to generalize, but AV1 should be about 15 – 25% more efficient than HEVC for VOD content, and most deliveries to smart TVs are top rungs of the encoding ladder. This means that services should be able to drop bandwidth costs by most of the 15 – 25%, which should offset the additional costs of encoding, storing, and caching inefficiencies associated with delivering in an additional format.
It’s worth noting that with the Avanci and Access Advance content pools, adding AV1, with or without HDR10+, involves an additional royalty risk you need to run by legal. This observation does not diminish the practical and technical significance of AV1 HDR10+ in the current streaming landscape.
Does this mean that Netflix still streams Dolby Vision in HEVC?