AOMedia Software Implementation Working Group to Bring AV1 to More Video Platforms

Initiative to Focus on Enhancing Video Streaming Experiences at Scale by Developing a Production-Ready AV1 Encoder Model and Implementations Using the Open-Source SVT-AV1 Codec

WAKEFIELD, Mass. – August 20, 2020 – The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) today announced the formation of the AOMedia Software Implementation Working Group (SIWG), a member-driven initiative to aid the development of AOMedia AV1 products and services. The SIWG will use the Scalable Video Technology for AV1 (SVT-AV1) encoder developed by Intel in collaboration with AOMedia member Netflix. The goal is to create AV1 encoder implementations that deliver excellent video compression across applications in ways that remove computational complexity trade-offs for an ever-growing video delivery marketplace. Open to all AOMedia members, which include leading internet and media technology companies, the SIWG Co-Chairs will be Facebook's Ioannis Katsavounidis and Tencent's Xiang Li and Intel's Hassene Tmar will serve as the Software Coordinator.

AOMedia continues to see widespread adoption of AV1 in browsers, operating systems, streaming media sites and online video devices. As mobile and live video streaming becomes more prevalent, it has become increasingly clear that users want to distribute more content, and that the ecosystem needs to provide great video experiences to an expanded group of mobile and online consumers. The initiative will leverage SVT-AV1 and research results from the AOMedia Codec Working Group to develop production-ready encoders for AV1 as well as future codecs on the AOMedia roadmap.

Register to view the live online IBC 2020 AV1 panel "Discussion with Amazon, Facebook, Google, Intel, Netflix, and Tencent on AV1 commercial readiness" on September 8th.

"We're excited to unveil the new Software Implementation Working Group as our newest initiative, reflecting our commitment to improving the quality and availability of streaming video with AV1," said Matt Frost, AOMedia vice president of communications and membership, and director at Google. "We look forward to working with AOMedia members to open up new possibilities for the development of royalty-free, cross-platform online video implementations across a wide range of applications for both AV1 and AOMedia's future video codecs."

The group's mission is to identify areas that are difficult to implement, produce benchmark data, and create production-grade software implementations that are ready for deployment when a corresponding AOMedia specification is published, or soon thereafter. This encoding performance of SVT-AV1 can help developers achieve specific quality and latency requirements for their video on demand (VOD) or live-streaming applications and efficiently scale across their cloud infrastructure.

"AV1 encoders are part of the driving force for accelerating the deployment of live and on-demand streaming video experiences. We have developed SVT-AV1, in collaboration with Netflix, with the goal of creating an AV1 encoder that speeds innovation while driving adoption in the open-source community. With SVT-AV1 being adopted as part of AOMedia's new encoder initiative, we look forward to collaborating with our fellow AOMedia members to bring further improvements to the internet, technology and video industries that are adopting AV1," said Zach Hamm, AOMedia chair, and senior director, visual computing strategy and business development at Intel Corporation.

Specifically, the SIWG will focus on:

• Developing an optimized software encoder and decoder implementation of an AOMedia standard, or evolving standard,

• Producing benchmark performance data for defined common test conditions, where available, or for test conditions agreed upon within the SIWG, otherwise,

• Studying the software complexity and ability to implement the standard under development, including performance analysis, and document the results,

• Producing and making publicly available a production-ready software encoder implementation, soon after the publication of the corresponding specification,

• Carrying out all development work in an independent open source codebase that is made available under standard AOMedia licensing terms, and

• Supporting and maintaining optimized production implementations of all AOMedia codecs, starting with AV1.

About the Alliance for Open Media

Launched in 2015, the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) was formed to define and develop media technologies to address marketplace demand for an open standard for video compression and delivery over the web. Board-level Founding Members include Amazon, Apple, Arm, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics and Tencent. AOMedia's open-source, royalty-free video codec AV1 is a significant milestone in the ability to deliver a next-generation video format that is interoperable, open, optimized for internet delivery and scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth. For additional information about the SIWG or membership, contact AOMedia or visit www.aomedia.org. Follow AOMedia on Twitter at @a4omedia.

Media Contact: AOMedia Jessie Hennion press@aomedia.org 781.876.6280