Libavif Improves Support for HDR Imagery

Big news from the AOMedia Storage and Transport Formats Working Group (STFWG): the latest libavif release is now available!

Libavif is one of the main AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) codec implementations. Libavif v1.2.0, released in February, represents the first feature release of the library since July, 2024, and it includes some exciting updates made over those seven months

What’s important about the latest release?

Libavif v1.2.0 supports HDR gain maps, a new way to encode AVIF HDR images that are backward compatible with SDR displays. HDR gain maps are supported by the Chrome and Edge browsers, Android, and Apple's operating systems. Additionally, the new YCgCo-Re color space can help improve the lossless compression performance of AVIF, and the new tune=iq (image quality) tuning mode can be used to optimize image quality when encoding images (libaom v3.12.0 required).

Below is an example of a regular (SDR) image on the left, and a gain map HDR image on the right. On an HDR display, the right image should look brighter, while they should look identical on an SDR display or when gain maps are not supported.

Below is an illustration of what the above images look like on an HDR display. This illustration is not true HDR, it is simply meant to give a sense of what HDR looks like.

Libavif v1.2.0 also features a new API that allows image item properties unrecognized by libavif to be read or written. Libavif users can use this to add custom properties to their AVIF image items.

Where can the release be accessed?

The latest version of libavif is now available on GitHub. The STFWG encourages users to try the new features and share feedback! Your input is important in helping us improve the next release.