AV1's 2026 Moment: Hardware Enables Scale
The article discusses findings from the 2026 NETINT Technologies State of Encoding Survey indicating a sharp increase in AV1 adoption, with 17% of respondents using AV1 in production today and 40% planning deployment in 2026. It highlights the high computational cost of software-based AV1 encoding as a key barrier and describes a resulting shift toward dedicated hardware acceleration (VPUs and GPUs) to manage OPEX and enable scalable next-gen codec workflows.
Key Takeaways
- Adoption jump incoming: expect a 2x+ increase in AV1 deployments in 2026 (17% → ~40% committed).
- Compute, not compatibility, is the bottleneck—software AV1 encoding’s CPU overhead undermines ROI at cloud scale.
- Hardware acceleration (VPUs/GPUs) is the pragmatic path to capture bandwidth savings without blowing encoding OPEX.
- Infrastructure decisions now (silicon partners, instance choices, edge vs cloud encoding) will separate winners from laggards.
Why It Matters
This is an infrastructure story disguised as a codec upgrade. Bandwidth savings from AV1 only materialize if encoding costs don’t erase them—so the economics force a move off general-purpose CPU. For execs and architects that means capital and operational choices: buy VPUs, re-architect pipelines for GPU/ASIC acceleration, or renegotiate cloud compute strategies. Whoever masters the compute-versus-bandwidth trade-off will gain lower CDN bills, better QoE, and a durable cost advantage. The 2026 "AV1 wave" is less about device rollouts and more about who upgrades their encoding stack first.
Read full article at linkedin.com
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