The media industry is ready to embrace next-generation video codecs like AV1, but is taking its time in doing so, according to the eighth edition of Bitmovin’s Video Developer Report.
The annual report is based on data collected from video developers and industry professionals across 34 countries.
It found that H.264/AVC still dominates the video industry, but there’s a clear trend in the direction of next-generation codecs.
“There has been perpetual optimism about AV1 adoption in the near future, but implementation continues to lag,” said Bitmovin in the report.
Asked whether they use a commercial or open source encoder, 54 per cent of respondents said they are using a commercial encoder for live encoding and 45 per cent for VoD encoding.
Open source encoders are being used by 20 per cent of respondents for live, and 23 per cent for VoD.
“Across live and VoD, commercial encoding solutions are stealing market share,” added the report. “This is the highest interest we’ve seen yet, likely because commercial solutions grow in flexibility and sophistication each year.”
Elsewhere, the report found machine learning and artificial intelligence are driving a number of innovations in the media and entertainment technology industry. Almost a third of respondents (28 per cent) stated that audio transcription and speech-to-text are where they will be using AI tools to improve customer experiences. This is followed by tagging and categorising video (13 per cent) and personalisation (8 per cent).
The Video Developer Report also considered the importance of sustainability and economic realities, with 70 per cent of respondents indicating that sustainability is not a business priority due to cost concerns, this is up from 40 per cent. However, almost a third of respondents (28 per cent) said that sustainability is a high priority even if it means paying a little more.
Speaking about the report’s findings, Bitmovin CEO and co-founder Stefan Lederer said: “ML and AI, and sustainability have been huge topics in video streaming over the past couple of years. However, while ML and AI have translated into innovations and adoption, sustainability seems to be falling down the industry’s agenda. It’s disappointing, but it also reflects the economic landscape we’re operating in where companies are focusing on topics like monetisation and ML and AI, which they believe will positively impact their bottom line.”
