AV2, the new royalty-free video codec closer to final specs
To give credit where it’s due, Redditor spotted the page and shared the link in AV1 subreddit. The document is titled “AV2 Bitstream and Decoding Process Specification,” dated January 5, 2026 . It is marked as a release candidate that still awaits formal approval from Alliance for Open Media. In plain terms, this is the rulebook that tells developers how an AV2 video stream is laid out and how a player should decode it.
AV2 is the upcoming video codec standard that may not be a marketing point for new hardware releases for quite some time. In comparison to AV1, the idea around AV2 is the same: video data is split into small packets called OBUs. AV1’s typical OBUs cover things like sequence setup, timing, frame headers, tile data, and metadata.
AV2 keeps that structure, but the draft adds a lot more “plumbing” for multi-stream and multi-layer video, with new OBU sections for multi-stream decoder operation, multi-frame headers, layer config records, and operating-point signaling. That reads like prep work for videos that carry multiple sub-streams and layers in one container, so a decoder can pick what it can handle. Sounds a lot like Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting .
Source: Alliance for Open Media
The draft also explains how AV2 will label capability targets. It defines three multi-sequence configurations (Main 4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4) and says AV2 currently supports six profiles , all under a “Main” toolset in this version. These tables are the compatibility part: what chroma formats, bit depth, and multi-layer limits a stream can declare, and what a decoder must support to claim compliance.
On the decoding side, the spec calls out new processing steps and filters. Two examples named in the text are CCSO (a cross-component sample offset filter that adjusts luma and chroma based on luma brightness and gradients) and GDF (a guided detail filter meant to selectively enhance detail).
None of this means AV2 videos will show up everywhere tomorrow, since this is still a draft release candidate. The AV1 had final specs around 2018, and the first iGPUs that supported it came around 2019/2020 (Intel) and 2021 (AMD).
Source: AV2 Draft Specs
