If you thought MPEG was just a file format, you would be wrong. As it turns out, MPEG is short for Moving Picture Experts Group, and it means that there is big business behind the use of these MPEG files.

There are now some nonprofit groups coming along to offer an alternative to the big name video codec giants of the industry. Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) is one that creates the open, royalty-free video coding format called AOMedia Video 1 (AV1).

AOMedia has grown large enough now not just because of its brilliance but also because it was founded by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Amazon and Google itself.

How to Enable AV1 Video Support on YouTube

1. Enable the AV1 codec support from your preferred web browser, whether it be Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge.

2. Visit the YouTube TestTube webpage and choose between having Av1 set on Auto, Prefer AV1 for SD, and Always prefer Av1 for your settings. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

YouTube Performance and Playback: AV! settings

3. Visit the YouTube AV1 Beta Launch Playlist page, and play a AV1 video you like for testing.

Should you still be using a version of Windows that shows stats for nerds, or you’re using a website such as YouTube, you can look for the av01 for Codecs. If you see it there, then the video is using the AV1 codec. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

YouTube: Stats for nerds
AV01 codec

That’s all.