AV1 reaches mainstream planning threshold: 40% targeting 2026 deployment

Dan Rayburn's analysis of NETINT's 2026 video encoding survey finds that 40% of respondents plan to deploy AV1 in 2026, giving the codec a combined deployment reach of 57% by year-end when added to those already running it. H.264 remains effectively universal at 84% production deployment; HEVC sits at 65%. "Not early-adopter experimentation. That is mainstream planning," Rayburn writes, framing AV1's trajectory as a tipping point rather than a niche rollout.

The survey's hardware findings are equally significant heading into NAB. Hybrid and dedicated hardware-accelerated approaches together represent 62% of the market, with 49% of respondents planning to evaluate video processing units (VPUs) in 2026. That diversification away from pure GPU acceleration reflects both cost pressure and the maturation of purpose-built encoding silicon.

The data lands at NAB during a period when CDN cost increases are a dominant conversation. AV1's efficiency gains — typically 20–30% bitrate reduction versus HEVC at comparable quality — directly reduce delivery costs, which makes the codec's mainstream adoption trajectory a strategic matter for any operator buying bandwidth at scale.