VP9: faster, better, buffer-free YouTube videos

As more people watch more high-quality videos across more screens, we need video formats that provide better resolution without increasing bandwidth usage. That’s why we started encoding YouTube videos in VP9, the open-source codec that brings HD and even 4K (2160p) quality at half the bandwidth used by other known codecs.

VP9 is the most efficient video compression codec in widespread use today. In the last year alone, YouTube users have already watched more than 25 billion hours of VP9 video, billions of which would not have been played in HD without VP9’s bandwidth benefits. And with more of our device partners adopting VP9, we wanted to give you a primer on the technology.

Good. We don’t want yet another closed, user-hostile codec.

15 Comments

  1. 2015-04-06 6:18 pm
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  2. 2015-04-06 6:27 pm
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  3. 2015-04-06 9:56 pm
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  5. 2015-04-07 2:51 pm