VLC creators publish early dav2d AV2 decoder, but the codec is still not final
VideoLAN has published dav2d, an open-source CPU-based decoder for AV2. The project is based on dav1d, VideoLAN’s existing AV1 decoder, and the code is now available through VideoLAN’s GitLab repository.
The thing is, AV2 specs are still not final. But we have seen an AV2 demo in VLC at CES 2026, so something is definitely happening behind the scenes. Some say that the specs may drop any minute, and this release simply happened a bit too soon.
AOMedia said VLC 4 (which is not yet available for download) was used for AV2 playback on a macOS laptop, while Google showed AV2 playback through Chrome and YouTube on a gaming laptop.
First demo of upcoming new open codec AV2, with playback inside VLC4 at #CES2026 on a normal laptop!
AV2 is coming soon and it’s developed by the @a4omedia to have the best royalty-free video codec!
If you want to see the demo during #CES26 , contact us! pic.twitter.com/BVEUoJLLcV
— VideoLAN (@videolan) January 7, 2026
Dav2d preview
The dav2d project is being developed by VideoLAN and follows the same role as dav1d, which is widely used for AV1 playback. It is designed as a cross-platform decoder focused on correctness first, with performance optimizations planned for x86, ARM, RISC-V and other architectures.
Source: VideoLan
The developers still plan to complete the C decoder, provide a usable API and port the project to more platforms. Later work includes AVX2, SSSE3+, ARMv8, ARMv7, RISC-V, PPC and AVX-512 optimizations, plus threading improvements.
The repository going public is still an important step for AV2 software support, but applications such as VLC, FFmpeg and browsers will likely wait for a more stable codec and decoder state before wider adoption.
Dav2D Roadmap
On-going
- Complete C implementation of the decoder,
- Provide a usable API,
- Port to most platforms,
After
- Make it fast on desktop, by writing asm for AVX2 chips.
- Make it fast on mobile, by writing asm for ARMv8 chips,
- Make it fast on older desktop, by writing asm for SSSE3+ chips,
- Make high bit-depth fast on mobile, by writing asm for ARMv8 chips.
- Make it fast on older mobile, by writing asm for ARMv7 chips,
- Make high bit-depth fast on older mobile, by writing asm for ARMv7 chips,
- Make high bit-depth fast on desktop, by writing asm for AVX2 chips,
- Make high bit-depth fast on older desktop, by writing asm for SSSE3+ chips,
- Improve threading.
- Improve C code base with various tweaks.
- Accelerate for less common architectures, like PPC, SSE2, RISC-V or AVX-512.
- Use more GPU decoding, when possible.
Source: Videolan.org via Reddit
