New video standards: AV1 testing, h265 codec as default & phasing out h264
Even better visual quality and streaming efficiency is coming to SLR! To prepare for the release of the Meta Quest 3, we’re testing the AV1 codec and changing the codecs we use at SLR to deliver improved quality and efficiency to you the user. This means establishing h265 as the default and phasing out h264. [Updated Sept 2023 with AV1 samples]
As the Meta Quest 3 and upcoming VR headsets, plus all modern GPUs, now support AV1, we are actively testing this codec to ensure it provides a smooth and superior quality viewing experience. We are also will looking at the performance of VP9 vs h265, in terms of quality and supported devices. You can read more about our decision to make h265 the new default at SLR, replacing the increasingly outdated h264 codec at this recent article.
Try out the AV1 Codec
Want to help out and see for yourself? Stream this short video from SLR Labs:
Or download the video file to play natively:
Play in your VR headset and let us know your thoughts at the SLR forum.
What is AV1 and why is it better?
AV1's aim is to deliver equal video quality at a lower bit-rate, meaning a smaller file size - which, of course, means greatly enhanced streaming properties for higher quality video, reduced bandwidth costs and a major boost for those users with less than ideal internet connections.
As well as this vastly improved efficiency, it is open source with a royalty-free algorithm, making it free-to-use for everyone, worldwide.
Drawbacks of AV1
Currently, encoding AV1 video with a CPU takes five times longer than it does to encode h265 video. (This is when using libaom (libaom-av1), which is the reference encoder for the AV1 format.)
Playing AV1 video with PCVR
To play AV1 videos using PCVR, you'll need to install the AV1 Video Extension from the Microsoft app store. It's completely free and this will enable AV1 video playback support for the DeoVR Steam app. Windows 10 and above.
h265 to become the default codec
The current gen of VR headsets are h265 standard and most VR cameras default to exporting video as h265. This is why we are adopting h265 as our default codec, meaning the h264 codec will be gradually phased out.
The playback of footage greater than 4K in h264 presents various challenges so we need to explore other options. To ensure we can continually improve our services, we will be removing h264 completely from SLR in-app streaming. However, we will still provide files in this format until the end of this year.
Keeping 4k h264 for the SLR flat 2D app
We will keep 4K h264 streaming for displaying flat video. You can expect huge improvements to 2D browsing by September this year as SLR expands into flat video with haptics integration. We will be converting our VR content into 4K h264 2D video.
Future plans
We will also perform comparisons looking at the performance, quality and device support of the VP9 codec vs h265. You can learn more about the differences between the AV1 and VP9 codecs at this blog.
Our team is still exploring the best way to handle footage recorded by h264 cameras. There is the option of maintaining this original 4K h264 format at SLR. Another issue is that Windows does not natively support h265 decoding unless the correct plugin is installed. This means that affected users end up watching lower-quality h264 videos instead.
We’re looking for a talented software streaming engineer to help with this task. Are you right for the job? Check out the job description on the SLR forum.
Any comments or suggestions? We'd love to know your thoughts at the new video standards post on the SLR forum.
