AV1SVC

AV1SVC, also known as the AOMedia Video 1 Scalable Video Extension, is an extension to the AV1 video codec. AV1 is an open, royalty-free video coding format developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). SVC is a technique that allows a single video stream to be encoded at multiple quality levels or resolutions. This means that a single AV1SVC stream can be decoded by devices with varying capabilities, or adapted to different network conditions.

The primary benefit of AV1SVC is enhanced adaptive streaming. Instead of sending multiple separate streams for different bitrates and resolutions, AV1SVC encodes these into a single, hierarchical bitstream. A decoder can then choose to extract only the layers it needs, reducing bandwidth requirements and improving playback smoothness, especially on mobile devices or fluctuating internet connections. This scalability is achieved through techniques like spatial scalability, temporal scalability, and quality scalability, allowing decoders to select the appropriate subset of the encoded data.

AV1SVC aims to improve efficiency and quality for streaming services, video conferencing, and other applications where adaptive bitrate delivery is crucial. By building upon the strong compression efficiency of AV1, AV1SVC offers a more robust and flexible solution for delivering high-quality video across a wide range of devices and network environments. Its development is part of the ongoing effort by AOMedia to advance open video standards.