Imagine a world where video streaming could have significantly higher quality without using up more bandwidth—or have the same quality while having half the impact on your data caps. A world where Twitch streams aren’t a blocky mess and YouTube videos can actually resemble the visual experience of playing the game yourself.
That world is the future promised by AV1: A new, open source video codec that aims to dethrone H.264 as the primary video standard after its nearly 20 year-long reign. Typically very difficult to encode, real-time AV1 encoding is now available to consumers via Intel’s debut Arc Alchemist graphics cards (fave.co/3uSJzLM) (though the launch has been limited to China so far, with a U.S. release planned for later this summer).
I put Intel’s GPU encoder to the test using a custom Gunnir Arc A380 desktop card to see if it delivers the promises we’ve seen from AV1 thus far, and how it competes against the existing H.264 encoders typically used for live streaming. I also want to explain why all of this matters so much. There’s a lot to this, so let’s dig in.
A FUTURE OF OPEN MEDIA
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av PCWorld.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av PCWorld.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Facebook wants to use your posts to train Al. Here's how to object
Facebook is changing its privacy policy and plans to use posts and images to train its Al. To prevent this, you need to object.
Windows 11's new AI feature could be a privacy nightmare
Your PC will be watching your every move by default.
The future of Windows: Copilot+ PCs unleash practical AI tools
Microsoft is aligning AI with its Copilot brand.
If you get a phone call from LastPass, it's a scam
A new breed of sophisticated phishing scammers are targetting LastPass users with phone calls and emails.
Sick of ads in Windows? This ingenious program eradicates them all
This clever free tool removes all the ads that Microsoft keeps stuffing into Windows 10 and 11.
Controversial Windows 11 Start menu ads begin rolling out
Microsoft has pushed “Promoted” apps from the Store to the Windows 11 wide build just a few weeks after they started appearing to Insiders.
Ring of bogus web shops steals 850K credit card numbers
Fake online storefronts, which show up in great numbers in Google and other search engines, are becoming a big problem.
This free, ancient Windows app will watch your laptop battery
BatteryInfoView gives you the laptop battery information you didn’t know you wanted.
How to use your smartphone as a Windows 11 PC webcam
Windows 11 now allows the wireless connection of Android smartphones for use as a webcam.
How to digitize VHS tapes the cheap way
Preserve your old video tapes with an inexpensive capture card and free software.