A new video codec has been made available for Video Streaming and Playback services to use over H.264 and H.265 or HEVC. This new codec is being called AV1. It is an open and royalty-free video coding format, mainly used in online video transmissions. It is made to succeed VP9 coding format. It is intended to be used along with OPUS in an upcoming update to WebM container format for HTML5 web video and WebRTC technologies. This codec promises the same stream quality but with a dip in the file size. Also, no patent holders will be paid any money for using this codec. Today, we will check how to enable AV1 codec natively on Windows 11/10.
How to play AV1 videos on Windows 11/10 PC
Enabling a codec natively on Windows means that adding the codec will enable the user to play media on Media Player and Movies & TV apps. This is similar to playing HEVC videos on the Windows Movies & TV app or playing OGG, Vorbis, and Theora-coded media files on Windows.
As the AV1 codec is emerging, more and more software is adding support for it. Microsoft is not much behind though. Microsoft has recently silently released AV1 Codec Pack for Windows 10. This is released on the Microsoft Store just like the Web Media Extension Codec pack and the HEVC Codec pack.
After you install it, you will be able to play AV1 videos on Movies & TV app. However, if you use the Win32 version of software like the VLC Media Player, you might not need it most probably.
The description of this codec on the Microsoft Store reads,
“Play AV1 videos on your Windows device. This extension is an early beta version of the AV1 software decoder that lets you play videos that have been encoded using the AV1 video coding standard developed by the Alliance for Open Media. Since this is an early release, you might see some performance issues when playing AV1 videos. We’re continuing to improve this extension. If you allow apps to be updated automatically, you should get the latest updates and improvements when we release them.”
Though the videos with AV1 codec are really rare at the moment; in case, if you wish, you can find and install this video codec extension from the Microsoft Store here.
TIP: 5KPlayer is among the best free AV1 Video Player for Windows that you might want to check out.
