AV2 Video Codec Advances Toward Chrome and YouTube Adoption

The AV2 video codec is moving from standards work into practical tests, with the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) stating that AV2 is gaining rapid adoption across the video ecosystem. Google has already demonstrated AV2 playback in Chrome, and YouTube plans to offer AV2 video on the web in early 2027, with the latter claim attributed to VideoCardz.

AV2 is the successor to AV1 and is described by AOMedia as an open standard intended to improve compression efficiency. The organisation says AV2 targets better picture quality at the same bandwidth—citing a 30 percent efficiency gain over AV1—and also aims to support multiple video streams, multi-view content, real-time communication, immersive media, high frame rates and HDR. The report notes that AV2’s real-world use could extend beyond on-demand video to live multi-view streams and conferencing.

However, not all hardware currently supports AV2 hardware decoding; at the time of writing, devices may fall back to software decoding, which can increase power consumption.

The piece also notes that other major platforms are at varying stages: Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are described as still evaluating AV2 support. It cites Chrome’s existing AV2 tests and YouTube’s planned 2027 rollout, framing AV2 as an evolving ecosystem rather than a current universal standard.