Chips&Media finalizes AV2 hardware decoder IP targeting 30% compression gains

The completion of a hardware-optimized AV2 decoder marks the first major step in migrating the open-media ecosystem toward next-generation bandwidth efficiency. For high-volume streamers like Netflix and YouTube, adopting AV2 could significantly reduce egress costs while maintaining 4K/8K quality in premium tiers. By providing a low-power hardware implementation so quickly after the standard's finalization, Chips&Media is helping solve the 'chicken and egg' problem that typically delays new codec adoption. Watch for upcoming announcements from North American SoC designers and set-top box manufacturers as they integrate this IP into their 2027-2028 product roadmaps.

The announcement follows the official launch of the AV2 specification (v1.0.0) by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) on June 9, 2026. Per AOMedia reporting, the new standard introduces technical enhancements including larger 256x256 superblocks—doubling the size of AV1's blocks—and more advanced frame prediction methods. AOMedia executive leadership recently noted that over 50 member organizations, including Apple, Google, and Meta, collaborated on the spec to ensure it was optimized for efficient hardware implementation from day one (per AOMedia, June 2026).

Chips&Media is joined in this early hardware push by VeriSilicon, which announced AV2 support for its VC9800D video processing unit just a day earlier. Per VeriSilicon's June 2026 press release, early evaluations indicate that AV2 can reduce bitrates by as much as 34% in certain scenarios compared to AV1. This puts the royalty-free standard on a competitive performance footing with the Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard, which has historically struggled with adoption due to complex licensing hurdles.

While hardware IP is now available, widespread consumer access will take several years to materialize. Industry data suggests that even for the previous AV1 standard, it took roughly five years for 4K-capable hardware to reach critical mass in the living room; as of mid-2026, Netflix reports that approximately 88% of recently certified large-screen devices now support AV1 (per Streaming Media, March 2026). The release of the dav2d portable software decoder by the VideoLAN community in early June 2026 will likely bridge the gap for mobile and PC users before the first dedicated AV2-enabled silicon reaches retail shelves.