Google’s Android TV platform provides set-top boxes, dongles, projectors and even TVs. As the move to Google TV is underway, Google is setting a new requirement for all new Android TV devices – they must support the AV1 streaming codec.
If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because rumors about this news have been going on for several months now. @AndroidTV_Rumor and Protocol both mentioned Google’s future requirement for AV1 to be compatible in October last year, but today, XDA provided corroboration and a little bit of additional context.
Today’s report sets a specific time window for this change, saying that all Android TV-based devices – which includes Google TV – must support the AV1 codec as of March 31, 2021. This applies to any device with Android 10 or Android 11. Again, this is not really breaking news, but the internal slide viewed by XDA helps to confirm that this is the case. We have contacted Google to comment on this change and this article will be updated if there is any response.
What does AV1 mean for Android TV? The new streaming codec is available to everyone through the Alliance for Open Media and was designed to be more efficient in streaming video over the Internet with very little impact on quality. Google, notably, announced that it would strongly boost AV1 going forward. 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.
With regard to AV1 support on Android TV today, it is already starting to expand. This codec requires the latest hardware for the decoding process, which is why unsupported products, including Chromecast with Google TV, cannot simply obtain a software update to bring it. Notably, Sony’s new Bravia XR line, which runs Google TV, supports AV1 decoding, as well as the latest Amlogic S905X4 chip being used in more streaming boxes.
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