YouTube is introducing new AV2 support; high-quality videos will play without interruption, even with a slow internet connection..

The way you watch videos on YouTube—the world’s largest video streaming platform—is set to change soon. If you frequently face buffering due to a poor network or slow internet, the company has a solid solution in the works. According to reports, YouTube may begin streaming using the AV2 video codec as early as the beginning of 2027. This will provide users with a superior experience, offering high-quality, smooth video playback while consuming less data.

What is the AV2 codec, and how will it transform your viewing experience?
AV2 (AOMedia Video 2) is a cutting-edge, advanced video compression technology. Simply put, it shrinks large video files into smaller sizes without compromising their quality. It is approximately 30% more efficient than the AV1 codec currently used by YouTube. This means that even without a high-speed internet connection, your videos will play seamlessly and in excellent pixel quality.

YouTube CTO Des Kean shared this information during an announcement by AOMedia. The AV2 codec—introduced in June 2026—supports several impressive features, including enhanced High Dynamic Range (HDR), higher frame rates, multi-stream video, and multiple camera angles. As of March 2026, over 90% of YouTube’s watch-time catalog relies on the older AV1 codec, which is now set for an upgrade.

Currently planned only for the web version.
If you are wondering when this feature will arrive on your smartphone or smart TV, you may have to wait a bit longer. For now, YouTube has set this 2027 target exclusively for its web version (accessed via computers or laptops). No official timeline has been shared yet regarding its rollout on mobile apps and smart TVs.

What are the hardware challenges?
The newer the technology, the greater the challenges. Although Google demonstrated AV2 playback on the Chrome browser at CES 2026, a stable version has yet to be released. Furthermore, there are currently no consumer graphics cards (GPUs) or smart TVs on the market that support AV2 decoding at the hardware level.

Since the entire workload will initially fall on the computer's processor (CPU), this will be no easy task. According to estimates by the video player company VideoLAN, the CPU will have to work five times harder to process new AV2 videos compared to the older AV1 format.

Meta is also in the race
It is not just YouTube that is involved in this video streaming revolution; industry giants like Intel and Meta are also participating. Intel is contributing to the development of the software version, SVT-AV2. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s company, Meta, has announced that it will soon adopt the AV2 codec to enhance the video experience across its platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.

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