A video codec rarely receives an Emmy, but the Television Academy recently presented the AV1 specification with a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award. This recognition highlights AV1’s significant influence on global video content delivery.
The AV1 specification received a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award on December 4, 2025.
The Demand for a New Web Video Codec
In the mid-2010s, video codecs imposed an unseen cost on the internet, operating under a proprietary licensing model that involved high and unpredictable fees. The majority of online videos utilized the H.264 codec. Open-source initiatives, such as Firefox, could only support H.264 without incurring MPEG LA license fees due to Cisco’s OpenH.264 module.
As video consumption surged, there was a clear need for an advanced codec to facilitate faster and more dependable high-quality streaming. While H.265 offered improved efficiency, there was no assurance of a similar royalty-free solution like OpenH.264. This situation threatened to create a fragmented online video landscape, potentially preventing browsers like Firefox from playing a significant amount of web content.
The Arrival of AV1
To address these challenges, several technology leaders, including Mozilla, established the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) in 2015. This collaboration initiated an ambitious project to develop a new-generation codec, integrating technologies from Google’s VP9, Mozilla’s Daala, and Cisco’s Thor.
The outcome was AV1, launched in 2018, offering excellent compression as an open standard with a royalty-free patent policy. AV1 is now extensively used throughout the streaming industry, supported by both hardware and optimized software decoders. This enables open-source browsers, such as Firefox, to deliver advanced video compression to all internet users.
Furthermore, AV1 serves as the basis for the image format AVIF. This format is supported by various browsers and offers superior compression for both static and animated images, leveraging its video codec origins.
The Emmy award underscores the importance of open standards, open-source software, and the continuous efforts by AOM participants and the wider community dedicated to an open internet.
The Future: AV2
While AV1 resolved a fundamental issue within the digital ecosystem, development continues. Video demand is consistently increasing, necessitating that future open codecs maintain their competitive edge.
AOMedia is currently developing the forthcoming AV2. This next iteration is expected to provide
significantly improved compression compared to AV1, along with greater efficiency for screen and graphical content, alpha channel support, and other enhancements.
With the introduction of AV2, the objective remains consistent: to ensure web video is open, efficient, and universally accessible.
