YouTube plans AV2 streaming rollout as early as 2027

YouTube plans to bring AV2 video streaming to its web player as early as 2027. The royalty-free codec from the Alliance for Open Media promises about 30% better compression efficiency than AV1, potentially cutting bandwidth needs at comparable quality.

• AV2 offers roughly 30% better compression efficiency than AV1
• Web player rollout on YouTube is expected as early as 2027
• Google has demonstrated AV2 playback in Chrome
• Actual data savings depend on device, network and encoding settings