Android Gets a New Software-Based AV1 Decoder (9to5google.com) 13
Ben Schoon reports via 9to5Google: Google's Arif Dikici confirmed on LinkedIn this week that Android is now using VideoLAN's (the makers of VLC) "dav1d" software decoder to allow AV1 to work on more devices. This is now available on all devices running Android 12 or higher via a software update. Mishaal Rahman points out that this started to roll out with the March 2024 Google Play system update.
Dikici says that "most" devices can at least support 720p at 30 frames per second, but that apps will need to opt in "for now" to support AV1 via software decoding. One app that has opted in is YouTube, which now uses AV1 on all compatible devices (though it may have reverted this). This may result in increased power usage depending on your device, though. Improvements on that front may be coming, though, says VideoLAN on Twitter/X.
Dikici says that "most" devices can at least support 720p at 30 frames per second, but that apps will need to opt in "for now" to support AV1 via software decoding. One app that has opted in is YouTube, which now uses AV1 on all compatible devices (though it may have reverted this). This may result in increased power usage depending on your device, though. Improvements on that front may be coming, though, says VideoLAN on Twitter/X.
Android treats resources as infinite (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Android treats resources as infinite (Score:1)
As a long time Android user, no, I do not recall that.
Re: (Score:2)
Recall how previous Android devices were slow and terrible when new, but got worse over time because of terrible software "improvements".
I remember that some devices which came with gingerbread couldn't run ice cream sandwich well because of the increased memory consumption. Otherwise, no. What I remember is Apple throttling phones because they didn't put in a battery that could still deliver enough current to run them when the battery aged.
Without hardware acceleration, it will inevitably slow down and murder battery life.
Yes, no kidding, it is obvious that doing the decode without GPU acceleration is going to consume more power. On the other hand, it makes it possible to watch video you couldn't otherwise watch. Even on P
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it makes it possible to watch video you couldn't otherwise watch
This seems to be "decided by the app". YouTube can detect the video decoding capabilities and falls back to VP9 or lower if AV1 is not available. Other apps should do the same, because the decision is actually between "serve an older format that the device can decode in hardware, at the expense of network bandwidth" or "always serve AV1 and drain the battery".
One useful scenario for AV1 in software would be video players that must decode a locally stored file on the device, because in this case there are no
What? (Score:3)
So if the cpu sux so bad it doesn't have a hardware AV1 decoder .. how many frames per second can we expect from it trying to play back an AV1. Sorry, I mean seconds per frame not frames per second.
Re: (Score:2)
That's a more or less worthless claim, "most devices" can mean "most phones sold within the last twelve months in the $1000+ price bracket", there's performance differences of one or two orders of magnitude between the things that are out there. Not to mention that he never says for how long they can sustain this before the device goes into thermal shutdown or the battery level drops to zero.
"No, it's not a slideshow, it's an AV1 codec in software on a three-year-old phone".
Re: (Score:2)
Hardware decoding is not necessary with how powerful many modern phone CPUs are. If you want to test this out now, simply download mpv on Android [google.com] and try an AV1 file on it.
Note that this is for Android 12 and higher, so you have a natural cutoff in devices that can get it at all simply from their OEM's software support. The main challenge will be low-end handsets and people using, say, Lineage to run more recent Android on older phones.
Re: (Score:2)
Hardware decoding is not necessary with how powerful many modern phone CPUs are.
If you don't have hardware decoding you don't have a modern phone CPU. The bigger issue here is that this isn't a feature for a new Android version, it's getting pushed out via the Play Store (which does push a lot of updates to system components), so you're not even "safe" knowing your old device won't get the new version. The issue is Android 12 came out 3 years ago meaning that your device may be 5-6 years old depending on how many system updates it received.
Your CPU may be powerful enough to decode in s
Re: (Score:2)
Not even close (Score:1)
How much more inefficient is it? Because on my budget smartphone I can easily last two days with heavy use. So now I will only get 1.5 days?
If you play a long AV1 wide with CPU only decoding you are more than likely to get only two HOURS instead of days.
Re: (Score:2)
If you don't have hardware decoding you don't have a modern phone CPU.
If you don't have hardware AV1 decoding on your phone then you don't have one of a scarce number of the very latest SoCs in it. How are you defining modern? This year? Because anything with 4+ 64-bit cores seems relatively modern to me.
Re: (Score:2)
If you don't have hardware decoding you don't have a modern phone CPU.
My phone was released Sept 2021 and does not have hardware AV1 decoding (Snapdragon 888).
I think you've been listening to too many marketing people who want you to buy a new phone every 24 months.