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Google’s Android TV platform powers set-top boxes, dongles, projectors, and even the TVs themselves. As the move to Google TV continues, Google is establishing a new requirement for all new Android TV devices: they must support the AV1 streaming codec.
If this sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because rumors of this news have been swirling around for several months at this point. @AndroidTV_Rumor and Protocol both mentioned Google’s future requirement for AV1 to be supported in October of last year, but today people are at XDA provided corroboration and a bit of additional context.
Today’s report sets a specific time window for this change, stating that all Android TV devices – which include Google TV – must support the AV1 codec from March 31, 2021. This applies to any device. running Android 10 or Android 11. Again, this isn’t really news, but the internal slide seen by XDA helps confirm that this is the case. We’ve reached out to Google for feedback on this change, and this article will be updated if there’s a response.
What does AV1 mean for Android TV? The new streaming codec is accessible to everyone through the Alliance for Open Media and is designed to be more efficient at delivering video over the Internet with very little impact on quality. Google, in particular, has announced that it will push AV1 strongly in the future. Google has already started using AV1 on YouTube, Chrome, and Duo on compatible devices and plans to expand these efforts to Google Photos, Play Movies / Google TV, Meet, and even Stadia over time.
As for AV1 support on Android TV today, it is already starting to expand. This codec requires newer hardware for the decoding process, which is why products that are not supported, including Chromecast with Google TV, cannot just get a software update to bring it in. Notably, Sony’s new Bravia XR line, which runs Google TV, supports AV1 decoding, as does the latest Amlogic S905X4 chip used in more streaming boxes.
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