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This is just lazy and risk-averse management. With the list of companies behind AV1 is certainly looked like the codec of the future several years ago. While pr

This is just lazy and risk-averse management. With the list of companies behind AV1 is certainly looked like the codec of the future several years ago. While predicting the future can be dicey, switching to AV1 should have been fairly obvious. Everyone waiting to see if it will actually take off has simply delayed the takeoff. Software decode has been around for years, so content providers could have encoded and used that for desktop users, or even people on mobile - half of them will blame their devices when the battery doesn't last.

basilgohar 5y ago
The entrenched interests are adverse to wide adoption of a royalty-free codec. Even some of the parties involved with AV1 have a conflict of interest as they are patent holders for other technologies that would exclude AV1's wider usage.
- CharlesW 5y ago
  > The entrenched interests are adverse to wide adoption of a royalty-free codec. I see this claim again and again on HN, but in reality "entrenched interests" ship with support for lots of royalty-free audio, video, and image formats. The reality is that AV1 is just not ready for prime-time yet. As TFA notes, it's a chicken-and-egg problem, and few companies have stepped up to be among the first chickens. If this rumor is correct, the first phones with Qualcomm-powered AV1 support will ship in 2023. At that point, expect the AV1 IP wars to begin. AV1's future depends on how that goes.
  - rstuart4133 5y ago
    > If this rumor is correct, the first phones with Qualcomm-powered AV1 support will ship in 2023. At that point, expect the AV1 IP wars to begin. AV1's future depends on how that goes. Intel added AV1 decoding to their onchip GPU's in 2020 [0]. Why didn't it begin then? [0] https://github.com/intel/media-driver/releases/tag/intel-media-20.3.0 https://github.com/intel/media-driver/releases/tag/intel-med...
    - CharlesW 5y ago
      > Intel added AV1 decoding to their onchip GPU's in 2020 [0]. Why didn't it begin then? I don't have any special insight into Sisvel's strategy, but I'd guess there are a few factors. This assumes that Intel isn't already a licensee — Sisvel has 32 AV1/VP9 licensees last I looked, and I believe only a few are public. - Very little content is delivered as AV1, and where it is used it's not exclusive, so content distributors could easily kill Sisvel's golden goose today. They can't move too soon. - I imagine Sisvel is happy to focus on low-hanging fruit while AV1's popularity (presumably) soars. They'll continue to build their stable of voluntary licensees until AV1 use hits a tipping point where the ROI for harder targets makes sense. The day Apple announces support for AV1, Sisvel will be celebrating harder than HN'ers. - When push comes to shove, I'd guess that Sisvel will most likely build a start building legal wins by going after smaller companies first, then work their way up to AOM members. Sisvel needs AV1 to be successful in order to extract maximum revenue. Qualcomm's support increases the odds that will happen, but it doesn't guarantee it. That necessary success probably happens a minimum of 2 years after broad device support.
GeekyBear 5y ago
> switching to AV1 should have been fairly obvious Things are moving, but not quickly. VLC shipped an optimized x86 software decoder very recently, but Handbrake has yet to find an open source software encoder in good enough shape that they can add it for general consumer use. https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/issues/457 https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/issues/457

basilgohar 5y ago

The entrenched interests are adverse to wide adoption of a royalty-free codec. Even some of the parties involved with AV1 have a conflict of interest as they are patent holders for other technologies that would exclude AV1's wider usage.

CharlesW 5y ago
> The entrenched interests are adverse to wide adoption of a royalty-free codec. I see this claim again and again on HN, but in reality "entrenched interests" ship with support for lots of royalty-free audio, video, and image formats. The reality is that AV1 is just not ready for prime-time yet. As TFA notes, it's a chicken-and-egg problem, and few companies have stepped up to be among the first chickens. If this rumor is correct, the first phones with Qualcomm-powered AV1 support will ship in 2023. At that point, expect the AV1 IP wars to begin. AV1's future depends on how that goes.
- rstuart4133 5y ago
  > If this rumor is correct, the first phones with Qualcomm-powered AV1 support will ship in 2023. At that point, expect the AV1 IP wars to begin. AV1's future depends on how that goes. Intel added AV1 decoding to their onchip GPU's in 2020 [0]. Why didn't it begin then? [0] https://github.com/intel/media-driver/releases/tag/intel-media-20.3.0 https://github.com/intel/media-driver/releases/tag/intel-med...
  - CharlesW 5y ago
    > Intel added AV1 decoding to their onchip GPU's in 2020 [0]. Why didn't it begin then? I don't have any special insight into Sisvel's strategy, but I'd guess there are a few factors. This assumes that Intel isn't already a licensee — Sisvel has 32 AV1/VP9 licensees last I looked, and I believe only a few are public. - Very little content is delivered as AV1, and where it is used it's not exclusive, so content distributors could easily kill Sisvel's golden goose today. They can't move too soon. - I imagine Sisvel is happy to focus on low-hanging fruit while AV1's popularity (presumably) soars. They'll continue to build their stable of voluntary licensees until AV1 use hits a tipping point where the ROI for harder targets makes sense. The day Apple announces support for AV1, Sisvel will be celebrating harder than HN'ers. - When push comes to shove, I'd guess that Sisvel will most likely build a start building legal wins by going after smaller companies first, then work their way up to AOM members. Sisvel needs AV1 to be successful in order to extract maximum revenue. Qualcomm's support increases the odds that will happen, but it doesn't guarantee it. That necessary success probably happens a minimum of 2 years after broad device support.

GeekyBear 5y ago

> switching to AV1 should have been fairly obvious Things are moving, but not quickly. VLC shipped an optimized x86 software decoder very recently, but Handbrake has yet to find an open source software encoder in good enough shape that they can add it for general consumer use. https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/issues/457 https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/issues/457