Ahmad Kamran 
Netflix has started streaming AV1 encoded content on Android mobile devices. The feature is only limited to selected titles starting from today.
You can enable this feature by selecting the “Save Data” feature in the app. Netflix is the most popular streaming service as of today. Its rivals AppleTv and Disney+ are way behind Netflix in terms of quality and movie/show titles.
Netflix is continuously testing new technology to make the streaming service more efficient. The most titles available on Netflix uses the codec H.264 (AVC), VP9 and HEVC. On Netflix mobile app, the streaming technology VP9 is used.
However, starting from today, users can now stream high-quality content thanks to the AV1 upgrade.
What is AV1?
AV1 is an open-source quality free codec technology, that main purpose is to make encoding easier on the internet. The technology offers 20% improved compression efficiency over the previous VP9 encodes.
When do we expect it?
Most of the famous high profile companies, like Mozilla, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Vimeo, Samsung, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple use this encoding system. It is expected that all tech giants will use this system for their next-generation streaming projects.
Read More: Netflix Still Rocks the Streaming Industry
Currently, most people can’t enjoy this update. It requires special updates for software and hardware. In software, Google launched a separate decoder for AV1 in Android 10. In terms of hardware, there is a very limited chipset designed to decode AV1.
However, Qualcomm and MediaTek are already working on this technology.
Future of AV1?
In the future, Netflix AV1 plans to roll out this update on iPhone and low-spec devices as well.
YouTube Red also has some limited number of AV1 videos. This is certainly the right step in the direction of newer technology.
