If you’ve worked in streaming for any length of time, you’ve probably heard the same story on repeat: HEVC is here. AV1 is better. H.264 is outdated.
And yet, here we are in 2025, and H.264 is still king. Even for 4K video.
So what’s really going on? Why aren’t the industry’s supposedly superior codecs seeing widespread adoption?
The Pitch Was Clear: Better Quality, Lower Bitrate
Both HEVC and AV1 were designed to solve a very real problem — delivering higher quality video at lower bitrates.
- HEVC claims around 50% savings over H.264 at the same quality.
- AV1 pushes that even further, with roughly 30% gains over HEVC.
- Both were meant to handle modern video needs like 4K, HDR, and low-bitrate environments with ease.
On paper, it all sounds perfect. But as anyone who’s deployed video at scale knows, success isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about compatibility, cost, and simplicity across a wildly fragmented device landscape.
Compatibility Is Still the Biggest Barrier
For all their technical strengths, HEVC and AV1 still run into the same issue: they just don’t play everywhere.
- HEVC support is still limited in browsers. Safari plays it, but Chrome and Firefox largely don’t — especially when DRM is involved.
- AV1 has made more progress in software support, but many devices still don’t support AV1 decoding in hardware. That means higher CPU usage, shorter battery life, and a real risk of playback failure on less powerful devices.
- Smart TVs and set-top boxes are slowly catching up, but there’s a long tail of legacy hardware that won’t ever support these formats.
If you’re running a global streaming platform, your success metrics revolve around things like start time, buffering rate, and playback success. It doesn’t matter how efficient your codec is if users can’t reliably watch the video.
It’s Also a Matter of Cost and Complexity
Even if you can use HEVC or AV1, the operational cost is often too high.
- AV1 encoding is still significantly slower and more expensive than H.264. This matters when you’re processing thousands of VODs or trying to deliver live streams with low latency.
- Supporting multiple codecs increases storage needs and complexity. You’re often storing and delivering H.264, HEVC, and AV1 versions of the same content.
- HEVC still comes with licensing headaches that make some businesses hesitate, especially smaller platforms.
The result? Unless you’re operating at the scale of YouTube or Netflix, the return on investment can be hard to justify.
Where We’re Starting to See Movement
That said, there is progress. Just not everywhere at once.
- Major players like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon are actively using AV1 — especially for mobile and Smart TVs, where they can control the environment.
- Newer chipsets from Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek support AV1 decode in hardware, which helps push things forward.
- Some FAST platforms and broadcasters are experimenting with multi-codec delivery, targeting AV1 or HEVC where it’s viable.
But this is a slow shift. H.264’s dominance comes from years of being the most universally supported option. It’ll take a long time for another codec to build that kind of foundation.
What Should Platforms Be Doing?
If you’re running a streaming service today, here’s what makes sense:
- Start testing, but don’t overinvest. Use AV1 or HEVC in controlled environments, like owned apps or new Smart TV platforms.
- Collect real data. Don’t assume support — measure playback success and performance across devices.
- Prepare your pipeline for flexibility. Build in support for multiple codecs, but be strategic about where and how they’re used.
- Keep an eye on hardware adoption. AV1’s breakthrough moment will likely come when low-cost devices all ship with built-in decode.
The Best Codec Is the One That Works
It’s easy to get caught up in the promise of efficiency gains and better compression. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is this: the video plays, and it plays well.
Until HEVC or AV1 can match H.264’s reach and reliability, most platforms will continue to use what works — and for now, that’s still H.264.