H.264 has dominated video streaming for over a decade, but two newer codecs — HEVC (H.265) and AV1 — both promise meaningfully better compression, meaning the same visual quality at a lower bitrate, or better quality at the same bitrate. They're often mentioned in the same breath as competitors, but they come from different origins, carry different licensing models, and have different real-world adoption levels today.
This guide compares HEVC and AV1 directly, since our separate H.264 vs H.265 and AV1 explainer each cover one codec against the older H.264 baseline rather than comparing these two modern codecs head-to-head against each other, which is the more practically useful question for anyone choosing hardware today.
Where each codec comes from
HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding, also called H.265) was developed by the same standards bodies behind H.264 — the ITU-T and MPEG — and finalized in 2013 as the direct successor. AV1 came later, developed by the Alliance for Open Media, a consortium including Google, Netflix, Amazon, and other major streaming and technology companies, specifically as a royalty-free alternative to HEVC's licensing model.
The core difference: licensing
This is genuinely the most consequential difference between the two codecs, more so than their technical compression performance. HEVC is encumbered by patent licensing fees, split across multiple patent pools, which device manufacturers and some streaming services must pay to use. AV1 was designed from the ground up to be royalty-free, which is a major reason major streaming platforms and browser makers have invested heavily in AV1 adoption despite HEVC having a multi-year head start in the market.
Compression efficiency compared
| Codec | Compression vs H.264 | Licensing | Hardware decode support |
|---|---|---|---|
| H.264 | Baseline | Licensed, widely settled | Universal |
| HEVC (H.265) | ~40-50% smaller files at similar quality | Licensed, multiple patent pools | Very broad, mature |
| AV1 | ~30-50% smaller than HEVC in many benchmarks | Royalty-free | Growing, less universal than HEVC |
AV1 generally edges out HEVC in compression efficiency in independent benchmarks, though the gap varies by content type and encoder implementation — some content shows only a modest AV1 advantage, while other content shows a more significant one.
Hardware decoding: where HEVC still leads
Despite AV1's compression advantage, HEVC has a significant practical edge today: broader hardware decoding support. HEVC decoding has been built into phone, TV, and streaming box chipsets for many years, meaning even budget devices can decode it efficiently using dedicated hardware. AV1 hardware decoding support is newer and less universal — while it's increasingly common in recent flagship devices, many budget and older devices still lack dedicated AV1 hardware decoders, forcing them to fall back to slower, more power-hungry software decoding, or simply not support AV1 playback at all.
Tip
Before assuming AV1 content will play smoothly on a specific device, check whether that device has dedicated AV1 hardware decoding — software-only AV1 decoding can drain battery quickly and struggle with higher resolutions.
Encoding speed and computational cost
Both HEVC and AV1 require significantly more computational effort to encode than H.264, but AV1 is notably more demanding still, particularly at higher compression settings. This matters mainly for content providers, not viewers directly — but it does affect how quickly a provider can encode new content and how much server infrastructure that requires, which indirectly affects a smaller provider's ability to offer AV1 streams at all compared to the well-resourced platforms leading its adoption.
Real-world adoption today
| Context | Typical codec in use today |
|---|---|
| Major VOD streaming platforms | Mix of H.264, HEVC, and growing AV1 adoption |
| IPTV live channels | Predominantly H.264, with HEVC growing |
| 4K content generally | HEVC most common, AV1 increasing |
| Web video (YouTube, browsers) | Strong AV1 push, especially newer devices |
For IPTV specifically, H.264 and HEVC remain the dominant codecs in practical use today, since broad device compatibility matters more to most providers than AV1's marginal efficiency advantage.
Pros and cons of HEVC
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extremely broad hardware decode support across devices | Licensing fees add cost for manufacturers and some services |
| Mature, well-understood encoding tools and workflows | Not royalty-free, unlike AV1 |
| Significant efficiency gain over H.264 already | Less efficient than AV1 in most direct comparisons |
Pros and cons of AV1
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Best-in-class compression efficiency among widely available codecs | Hardware decode support still catching up on budget/older devices |
| Royalty-free, backed by major industry players | Significantly more demanding to encode |
| Strong long-term momentum across major platforms | Less mature tooling than HEVC in some workflows |
Best practices for viewers
- Check your device's supported codecs before assuming a specific quality tier will play smoothly.
- Prioritize hardware decode support over raw compression efficiency when choosing a device, since a codec you can't decode efficiently in hardware won't deliver a good experience regardless of its file-size advantage.
- Don't assume newer always means better for your specific setup — AV1 is more efficient in theory but only helps if your device can decode it well in practice.
- Keep your streaming device's firmware updated, since codec support is sometimes added or improved through software updates.
Common mistakes when thinking about codec choice
- Assuming AV1 is always the better choice without checking whether your specific device can hardware-decode it efficiently.
- Confusing codec with container format — codecs like HEVC and AV1 are compression methods, while formats like MP4 and MKV are containers that can hold various codecs; see our MKV vs MP4 guide for that distinction.
- Blaming a provider for using an "outdated" codec like H.264, when broad compatibility is often a deliberate, sensible choice rather than an oversight.
- Expecting identical playback smoothness across all devices for the same codec, when hardware decode support varies significantly by device age and price tier.
Troubleshooting codec-related playback issues
Video won't play at all on a specific device
Check whether that device supports the content's codec at all — some older or budget devices genuinely cannot decode HEVC or AV1, regardless of network conditions.
Video plays but drains battery unusually fast
This often indicates software (CPU-based) decoding rather than hardware decoding, common when a device lacks a dedicated decoder for the content's codec.
Same quality setting looks different across devices
Different devices may decode and render the same source slightly differently depending on their specific decoder implementation and display processing — minor variation here is normal.
Common mistake
Assuming a codec compatibility issue is a network or subscription problem. If a stream fails consistently on one device but works on another, check codec support on the failing device before troubleshooting anything else.
Step-by-step: checking your device's codec support
- Check your device manufacturer's specification page for supported video codecs.
- Look specifically for whether HEVC and AV1 decoding are listed as hardware-accelerated, not just "supported" in general terms.
- If unsure, search your device model alongside the codec name to find community-reported real-world compatibility.
- If a specific quality tier consistently fails on a device, try a lower quality setting that likely uses a more universally supported codec.
How codec choice fits into the adaptive streaming picture
It's worth situating codec choice within the broader adaptive streaming pipeline covered in our HLS deep dive: a codec compresses individual frames, while adaptive bitrate streaming decides which quality level, and therefore which encoded version, to request based on your connection. A single piece of content might be encoded multiple times at different quality levels, and increasingly, in multiple codecs, so that your player app can select not just the right bitrate but the right codec for your specific device. This is why the "same" 4K stream can technically arrive as different underlying data depending on whether your player app requested an H.264, HEVC, or AV1 version — the visible result is meant to look equivalent, but the file behind it can differ substantially in size and decoding requirements.
Providers that support this kind of multi-codec delivery need meaningfully more encoding infrastructure and storage than those sticking to a single codec, since every title has to be processed and stored multiple times over. This is a genuine operational trade-off, not a simple decision, which is part of why codec support varies so much between different streaming providers and IPTV services specifically.
A brief technical look at how each codec compresses video
Without getting lost in algorithmic detail, both HEVC and AV1 build on the same fundamental compression concepts as H.264 — dividing frames into blocks, predicting each block from neighboring blocks or previous frames, and encoding only the difference between the prediction and the actual content — but both push these techniques significantly further. HEVC introduced larger, more flexible block sizes than H.264, allowing more efficient encoding of large, smooth areas of a frame like sky or plain backgrounds. AV1 goes further still, adding more sophisticated prediction modes, better motion compensation for handling movement between frames, and improved handling of film grain and fine detail without needing to spend as much data preserving it pixel-for-pixel. These refinements are what allow AV1 to achieve smaller file sizes than HEVC at comparable visual quality, at the cost of significantly more computation during encoding to find the most efficient way to represent each frame.
How this affects providers with limited infrastructure
Smaller or independent IPTV providers face a genuine practical constraint that's worth understanding as a viewer: encoding content in AV1, or even maintaining a full multi-codec pipeline covering H.264, HEVC, and AV1 simultaneously, requires meaningfully more server infrastructure and processing time than encoding in a single widely-compatible codec like H.264 alone. This is a real reason many independent providers prioritize broad H.264 and HEVC compatibility over chasing AV1 adoption immediately — it's not necessarily a sign of outdated technology, but often a deliberate, sensible trade-off that prioritizes consistent playback across the widest possible range of subscriber devices over marginal bandwidth savings that would only benefit viewers with newer, AV1-capable hardware anyway.
Where this is heading
AV1 adoption is growing steadily, particularly among major platforms with the resources to encode content in multiple codecs simultaneously and serve the right one to each device. For IPTV specifically, where broad device compatibility is a priority and infrastructure resources are often more limited than major VOD platforms, H.264 and HEVC are likely to remain the dominant practical choices for some years yet, even as AV1 continues gaining ground elsewhere in the broader streaming ecosystem.
As AV1 hardware decoding becomes standard on more mid-range and budget devices over the next several device generations, expect its IPTV adoption to follow a similar curve to HEVC's own gradual rise from a niche, higher-end feature to a broadly supported default — a transition that historically takes years, not months, to fully play out across an entire device ecosystem.
A real-world scenario: a household with mixed devices
Consider a household with an aging budget streaming box in the bedroom, a mid-range Smart TV from a few years ago in the living room, and a brand-new flagship phone. If all three devices connect to the same IPTV service, the provider's ability to serve each one an appropriately encoded stream matters more than which single "best" codec exists in the abstract. The aging streaming box likely only has hardware decode support for H.264 and perhaps HEVC; the mid-range TV probably supports HEVC well and may have partial AV1 support; the flagship phone likely has full hardware support for all three codecs, including AV1. A provider with genuinely multi-codec infrastructure can serve each device its optimal version, while a provider limited to a single codec has to pick one baseline that works acceptably across all three, typically defaulting to the most broadly compatible option rather than the most efficient one.
This is a good illustration of why "which codec is best" doesn't have a single universal answer — the best codec for any given moment is the one your specific device can decode most efficiently, not necessarily the one with the best compression numbers on a benchmark chart.
Semantic terms worth knowing
A few related terms are useful when discussing codecs: bitrate (the amount of data used per second of video, directly affected by codec efficiency), hardware acceleration (using a dedicated chip rather than the general CPU to decode video, which is far more power-efficient), encoder (the software or hardware that compresses raw video into a specific codec's format), and profile/level (sub-specifications within a codec standard that define exactly which features and limits a specific implementation supports).
Key takeaways
- AV1 generally compresses more efficiently than HEVC, but HEVC has far broader hardware decode support today.
- AV1 is royalty-free; HEVC carries patent licensing costs, which has shaped industry adoption patterns.
- Device compatibility matters more than raw compression efficiency for your actual viewing experience.
- IPTV specifically still leans on H.264 and HEVC for broad compatibility, with AV1 adoption growing slowly.
- Check your specific device's hardware decode support before assuming either codec will perform well.
Conclusion
Neither codec is universally "better" — AV1 wins on compression efficiency and licensing freedom, while HEVC wins on hardware compatibility and ecosystem maturity today. For most IPTV viewers, this comparison matters less than it might seem: your player app and provider handle codec selection automatically, and the practical factor most likely to affect your experience is simply whether your specific device has a hardware decoder for whatever codec your content happens to use.
If you're shopping for a new streaming device today, checking its codec support alongside its Wi-Fi standard and general specifications is a worthwhile few minutes of research — it's a genuinely future-relevant detail that's easy to overlook amid more heavily marketed specs like screen resolution or storage capacity, but one that directly affects how efficiently your device will handle the video formats providers increasingly rely on.