Bringing AV1 Streaming to Netflix Members’ TVs | by Netflix Technology Blog | Netflix TechBlog

Netflix just brought AV1 streaming to TVs, marking a major milestone for the royalty-free codec. The result? Measurably better streaming for millions of members.

Netflix's Encoding Technologies team shares how they launched AV1 on TV platforms after starting with Android in 2020. This cross-functional effort involved encoding optimization, device certification, resource management, and careful A/B testing to validate real-world improvements.

Key Takeaways

• AV1 improved quality by up to 10 VMAF for congested sessions
• 4K streaming duration increased by 5% on eligible sessions
• Noticeable quality drops reduced by 38% on some TVs
• Dynamic optimization adapts encoding recipes at shot level
• Custom certification streams stress test decoder capabilities

The team's approach to rolling out AV1 across Netflix's massive catalog involved a data-driven strategy that prioritized which titles to encode first.