Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will support AV1 video codec – tablets and phones – news

Qualcomm is said to be planning to support the AV1 video codec in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 soc. Using this codec can reduce data and power consumption when streaming content from YouTube and Netflix.

that put Protocol Sourcesthis Spec Sheets I’ve seen for the chip. This chip is SM8550, which will be Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the previous high-end socs were named SM8450, SM8350 etc. However, smartphones or tablets that contain those chips have yet to be announced. The source reports that the chips will reach manufacturers’ hands at the end of this year at the earliest, so that devices with soc can be expected in 2023. It’s also not entirely certain that support will actually come; Plans can still be changed.

AV1 is developed by Alliance for Open Media. This organization was founded in 2015 by Microsoft, Google, Intel, Mozilla, Amazon, Netflix and Nvidia with the goal of developing a better way to compress video that is more convenient for delivering content over networks. AV1 generally achieves higher quality at lower bit rates and the royalty-free codec. The Efficiency feature of the codec can also be used to achieve better quality with the same amount of data, but it seems like Netflix, for example do not plan to†

While the AV1 appears to be well suited for use in webcasting, adoption of the codec has been delayed due to the “chicken and egg” story in support. Qualcomm has never supported it with its popular socs, and Android media players like Nvidia Shield and Chromecast with Google TV can’t decode it either. However, this seems to be the case with future Android TV devices to be forced† MediaTek socs have been supporting this since 2020 and the just released Samsung Galaxy S22, with its own Exynos soc too. Modern smart TVs also support the codec.