Fora Soft published a 2026 codec landscape analysis comparing MPEG-2, H.264, HEVC, VP9, AV1, and VVC across technical and commercial criteria. The report highlights that while AV1 is gaining significant traction in production, VVC adoption remains stalled due to patent fragmentation and a lack of hardware decoder support.
The shift toward AV1 marks a critical transition for the streaming stack as royalty-free models finally overcome the legal friction of multi-pool licensing. For engineers, the data confirms that while VVC is technically superior, the lack of silicon decoders in older Apple and Android devices makes it a non-starter for general OTT delivery. This creates a bifurcated ecosystem where high-volume distributors like YouTube and Meta prioritize bandwidth efficiency through AV1, while legacy broadcast remains anchored to HEVC and MPEG-2. Watch for the late 2026 arrival of the AV2 specification to see if it further accelerates the industry's move away from traditional patent-encumbered standards.
AV1's production momentum extends well beyond Netflix's 30% traffic share. In May 2026, Bitmovin announced that MUBI selected its VOD Encoder to support a multi-codec strategy spanning AVC, HEVC, and AV1 for film-grade quality optimization, replacing a legacy on-premises stack via AWS Marketplace. That deployment reflects a broader pattern: encoding vendors are now expected to ship AV1 at production scale as a baseline requirement for premium OTT workloads. Bitmovin's own 2026/2027 Video Developer Report, which surveyed 486 video professionals, found that 98% of respondents are using AI or ML for video workflows, with low latency overtaking cost as the top challenge at 36%, underscoring that codec efficiency and delivery speed are converging priorities for engineering teams evaluating their encoding stacks.
The patent landscape remains the decisive factor separating AV1 from VVC adoption. Access Advance and Via LA each administer separate VVC patent pools, and the resulting royalty uncertainty has kept hardware decoder support limited to recent flagship silicon. Streaming Media's annual codec survey noted that startup Deep Render and other IP-centric licensing models are attempting to reshape how codec royalties are structured, though none have yet achieved the scale needed to unblock VVC deployment for mainstream OTT services. By contrast, AOMedia's royalty-free commitment for AV1 continues to remove procurement friction for platforms like YouTube, Meta, and Twitch that encode billions of hours annually.
On the tooling side, the competitive dynamics between encoding vendors are sharpening around codec breadth and developer experience. Bitmovin has co-developed AV1 tooling over multiple years and supports VVC encoding in its pipeline, positioning it for broadcast and premium workloads where codec coverage is the deciding factor. Mux, meanwhile, has focused on bundling encoding with player and analytics into a single developer surface. Mux launched its Robots product in 2026, which runs AI-driven video moderation and analysis natively inside the Mux platform, eliminating the need for developers to manage separate LLM API keys. That product strategy targets the same engineering teams evaluating codec pipelines: smaller OTT services that prioritize integration speed over multi-codec flexibility. For buyers weighing the Fora Soft comparison data, the practical takeaway is that AV1 readiness is now table stakes, while VVC remains a future bet contingent on patent pool consolidation and broader silicon support.
AV1 has achieved significant production traction, now powering 30% of Netflix streaming sessions. While VVC offers superior bitrate savings, patent fragmentation and a lack of hardware support have limited its deployment to under 1% of streaming services. This shift highlights the industry's move toward royalty-free codecs for large-scale OTT delivery.
AV1 is royalty-free, which removes procurement friction for major platforms. In contrast, VVC is hindered by two fragmented patent pools and a lack of native browser or hardware support, making it difficult for mainstream OTT services to adopt.
As of 2026, AV1 powers 30% of Netflix streaming sessions, supported by hardware decoders on 88% of Netflix-certified large screens.
Yes, H.264 remains the universal fallback, maintaining nearly 80% production deployment despite being 23 years old.
VVC adoption remains restricted to niche use cases, such as Brazil's DTV+ broadcast, with deployment currently under 1% of streaming services due to patent uncertainty and limited silicon support.
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