Ateme Drives Advancement and Savings with AV1

Ateme is a global provider of compression solutions for broadcast cable, DTT, DTH, IPTV, and OTT. Founded in 1991, the company now has offices around the globe and is focused on helping tier-one content providers, service providers, and streaming platforms boost their viewership and subscriber numbers, while enabling them to lower the total cost of video transmission from acquisition to delivery. We spoke with CTO Mickael Raulet to get his take on AV1’s rise across the industry and Ateme’s use of the codec.

Ateme on AV1’s Value

Ateme designs software video compression solutions to enable innovative live or on-demand video delivery services while preserving picture quality. The company began working with AV1 in 2019 and currently utilizes the codec in both its Titan video encoding solution and its NEA OTT delivery product. While AV1 delivers many benefits, Ateme called out its film grain synthesis capabilities as a key advantage. Rather than encoding noise, film grain synthesis removes it prior to encoding, then replicates grain algorithmically when decoding. This process – which is specific to the AV1 codec – can engender bitrate savings of up to 90%, without losing the artistic intent of the content.

“Effective film grain management is not something any other standard was able to deliver,” said Raulet. “AV1 is the only option we’ve found that makes film grain synthesis management a priority, and that is really important for us and our customers.” Ateme has patented technology for film grain synthesis that it has been applying to studio video and with AV1 technology the company can cut bit rates on average in half compared to any other standard, even the latest ones. “This savings is quite impressive, and everyone is happy with the results we’ve been getting,” he continued.

“In addition to film grain management and bit rate savings, AV1’s royalty free aspect is also important for both Ateme and its customers,” Raulet noted. “It was a big factor in Ateme’s decision to use AV1 in the first place.”

AV1 vs HEVC

With AV1, Ateme has seen a 50% improvement in film grain synthesis compared to HEVC. The company estimates that 30% of content can be encoded using AV1 technology, which is also significant.

“A visual comparison between AV1 and HEVC for live video provides a good apples-to-apples comparison, because they deliver a similar visual experience in this medium,” Raulet noted. “However, with the transition to HDR, AV1 is the first codec to be fully HDR compliant and it is accelerating the adoption for live and VOD streaming.”

“One big selling point for us is that given our use of AV1, we can help customers struggling with a different codec to make the switch to AV1 very quickly and seamlessly,” he added. “The fact that Ateme can easily transition them from one codec to another is incredibly important.”

The Influence of Apple

Apple has of course enjoyed significant global name recognition and dominance in the computing space for many years. More recently, it has become a growing force in the video industry. Apple’s embrace of AV1 gives the codec a huge boost, making it more widely accepted than it was before. Before Apple’s announcement, AV1 was already being used by Meta, Netflix and YouTube, and it had the support of devices like Qualcomm’ Snapdragon, Smart TV supporting YouTube, Media Tech, Broadcom and others. According to Raulet, “Apple’s support means the whole ecosystem now stands behind AV1. With this development, you get the sense that something is clicking – there is a change in how the market is perceiving AV1.

“With Apple’s adoption, I anticipate a massive shift in support of AV1,” he added. “It will take a while before all Apple devices are replaced with the new AV1-supporting devices, but I suspect that within a couple of years, everyone will have a phone that is capable of AV1 hardware decoding natively and very, very fast.”

Broader AV1 Adoption

While big players represent the majority of AV1 adoption in the current environment, more and more smaller companies are starting to take note and ask for it as well, and Ateme believes this is a trend that is likely to continue. “Those using AV1 now are using it more as a file traditional workflow, and that is where we are recommending it for our customers,” explained Raulet. “However, I believe as soon as AV1 adoption increases for live workflows among the bigger name companies, that will enable more AV1 adoption for live workflows across the entire ecosystem.”

AV1 Suitability for Low-end Mobile Devices

All devices – even lower-end devices – need to support content from the big names in the industry, such as YouTube, Meta and Netflix. To do this, AV1 or HEVC will be necessary. So today, any new device, no matter where it falls on the spectrum, will be built with the ability to support AV1, and Raulet believes we will see more and more AV1 content hitting the market. “As AV1 is reducing bit rates, it’s lowering costs for our customers, so I expect we’ll see more of them transition to it fully as soon as possible,” he adds.

Ateme on AOMedia

Ateme has been an AOMedia member since 2016. “As an encoder vendor, we believe that it's good for our customers to have the flexibility to choose what codec is best for their needs. For some of them, HEVC rights were becoming too expensive, so they were looking at an alternative,” said Raulet. AOMedia membership helps Ateme stay at the forefront of advancement and dialogue around new codec options, such as AV1 and others. Being in an ecosystem with industry leaders from around the globe also helps the company stay abreast of what others have encountered and learned so that they can deliver both codec options and insight to their customers.

It's important for Ateme to be on top of industry trends and to have the capability to offer the latest and greatest to its clients. “If everyone is adopting a codec, we need to be there, otherwise we are missing something,” concluded Raulet. “There is no better way to stay ahead of the curve than to work closely with and exchange ideas with industry leaders from around the globe. AOMedia gives us that opportunity.”