“Is Real-time AV1 Ready for Prime Time?” Webinar Session One
While AV1 has been widely adopted for streaming media — such as movies, TV shows, and social platforms — there remains a critical question: Is AV1 ready for real-time communications (RTC)?
RTC presents a unique set of challenges, such as ultra-low latency and real-time network adaptation. Efficient encoding tools for screen content are also essential.
In part one of the AOMedia webinar, “Is Real-time AV1 Ready for Prime Time?,” industry experts including Agora’s Patrick Ferriter, Meta’s Yu Chen (Eric) Sun, and NETINT’s Alex Liu explored AV1's technical readiness to meet these demands. AOMedia Executive Director Pierre-Anthony Lemieux moderated the discussion as the presenters shared insights into the benefits of AV1 and opportunities for RTC, and the challenges to create a healthy AV1 ecosystem. A live Q&A session followed the presentations. You can read summaries of the webinar presentations below.
AV1 for RTC Across the Meta Family of Apps
Yu Chen (Eric) Sun from Meta shared insights on how Meta leverages AV1 to improve video encoding quality for large-scale, real-time communication.
Highlighting AV1's accelerating industry momentum, he noted recent commitments from Apple and Google, who have introduced AV1 hardware codec support on their latest devices — clear signals of wider adoption that bodes well for RTC applications.
Last year, Meta successfully rolled out AV1 on Messenger, which reaches over a billion monthly active users. This deployment spans an extensive array of devices, from high-performance desktops to mobile phones, underscoring AV1's adaptability and scalability.
Empowering Developers to Build High-Quality RTC Experiences with AV1
Patrick Ferriter of Agora highlighted how their products empower developers to create high-quality, real-time communication experiences through AV1.
With user-friendly AV1-enabled SDKs and APIs, Agora enables the seamless integration of real-time voice, video, interactive streaming, chat, and AI-driven features into applications.
Agora’s scale is evident, supporting over 60 billion minutes of video and voice each month across more than 3 billion devices worldwide.
A core differentiator for Agora is its proprietary Software-Defined Real-Time Network (SDRTN), which intelligently routes audio and video traffic across the internet, bypassing impairments and ensuring ultra-low latency delivery across over 200 countries.
Agora supports real-time engagement across diverse sectors, from education and one-on-one tutoring to live shopping, telehealth, gaming, media, entertainment, and social interactions.
Delivering Real-Time 4K Video Experiences with AV1 & NETINT Quadra VPUs
Alex Liu from NETINT introduced how his company’s VPU technology delivers real-time AV1 performance, addressing key challenges in WebRTC-based communications. Widely used in real-time applications, WebRTC often faces obstacles such as variable network conditions and limited device computing power. NETINT’s AV1-enabled VPU tackles these hurdles with advanced capabilities, particularly in their second-generation Quadra VPU, which supports AV1 encoding up to 8K at 60 FPS.
Quadra also includes an enhanced two-stage engine and a dedicated AI engine — both designed to meet the demands of RTC applications by optimizing performance under varying conditions.
Real-time AV1 Has Truly Arrived
These presentations underscore that real-time AV1 has proven itself as a practical, scalable solution for high-quality, low-latency communication. With industry leaders like Meta, Agora, and NETINT driving innovations in AV1 encoding, from versatile SDKs and global real-time networks to advanced VPUs, it's clear that AV1 is primed to enhance real-time engagement across diverse applications and devices. Real-time AV1 isn’t just ready for prime time; it’s actively shaping the future of interactive media.