VP9 Video

Overview

VP9 is an open video compression format developed by Google as a successor to VP8. It improves compression efficiency and is commonly used for high-resolution web video, including HD and 4K streaming.

VP9 is frequently stored in WebM containers for web delivery. It can also be stored in IVF files for video-only workflows, testing, and elementary codec processing.

Key features of VP9 include:

  • Improved compression - Better compression efficiency than VP8, especially at higher resolutions

  • Open web video workflow - Commonly used with WebM for browser-based playback

  • High-resolution support - Suitable for HD, 4K, and bandwidth-sensitive streaming scenarios

  • Flexible codec tooling - Supported by many open media pipelines and playback environments

VP9 is often used when an open video codec is required and better compression than VP8 is needed.

AVBlocks provides support for VP9 encoding and decoding, allowing you to:

  • Encode raw YUV video to VP9

  • Decode VP9 video to raw YUV frames

  • Work with VP9 video stored in IVF files

VP9 Encoding

VP9 Decoding