Intel, Netflix AV1 scalable codec
April 9, 2019
At NAB Show in Las Vegas, Intel and Netflix announced a new high-performance video codec that is available as open source and royalty-free to content creators, developers and service providers. Scalable Video Technology for AV1 (SVT-AV1) offers performance and scalability in video processing.
According to Intel, modernisation of video software codecs for increased efficiency will help deliver rich user experiences and reach global scale, accelerating time to market and lowering costs for developers and service providers. SVT-AV1 is a software-based scalable codec offering the best trade-offs among performance, latency and visual quality when working with visual cloud workloads. SVT-AV1 performance advantages are based on the SVT architecture, which is a cohesive and highly optimised codec architecture that already has delivered multiple generations of codecs, including SVT-HEVC, SVT-VP9 and SVT-AV1.
The new SVT-AV1 codec is unique in that it allows encoders to scale their performance levels based on the quality and latency requirements of the target applications — ranging from highest quality video on demand (VoD) to livestreaming use cases. The high-quality encoding and decoding in SVT-AV1 will enable developers working with visual cloud workloads to get them to market faster. The codec is optimised for video encoding on Intel Xeon Scalable processors.
“The SVT-AV1 codec offers both high performance and efficiency,” noted Lynn Comp, Intel vice president of the Network Platforms Group and general manager of the Visual Cloud Division. “And compared to today’s most popular codec (H.264 AVC), SVT-AV1 can help service providers save up to half their bandwidth, delivering leading-edge user experiences that can be quickly and cost-effectively delivered at a global scale. This codec makes it possible for services ranging from video on demand to live broadcast of 4Kp60/10-bit content on Intel Xeon Scalable processors, including the recently launched Second-Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor.”
“The SVT-AV1 collaboration with Intel brings an alternative AV1 solution to the open-source community, enabling more rapid AV1 algorithm development and spurring innovation for next-generation video-compression technology,” said David Ronca, director of Encoding Technologies, Netflix.
The SVT-AV1 codec is available under a permissive BSD+Patent licence, which Intel says will make it easy to adopt and commercialise.