Re:Firefox to support Google's WebP image format for a faste...
by cornstalks on Saturday October 06, 2018 @01:07AM
(#18153640)
> Unless I'm mistaken AV1 is very far from finalized
AV1 is finalized: https://aomedia.org/av1-features/get-started/
I think there are a couple bugs and contradictions between the spec and reference implementation that are being ironed out, but the bitstream is now frozen.
Re:Firefox to support Google's WebP image format for a faste...
by rjsw on Saturday October 06, 2018 @07:13AM
(#18154538)
The copy of Firefox that I'm using to type this has the AV1 library linked to it (via ffmpeg).
Re:Firefox to support Google's WebP image format for a faste...
by microcolonel on Saturday October 06, 2018 @01:46PM
(#18156324)
AV1 is enabled for video in the next release of Chrome, and the current release of Firefox has it behind a flag IIRC. The spec has been finalized since early this year, and the results are stunning: You can produce recognizable, sometimes perfectly passable, images at around one tenth of a bit per pixel.
Try the "clovisfest" test image here[0], with the most recent AV1 snapshot on the right, and MOZJPEG (the most advanced JPEG encoder on the market, AFAIK) on the left, with both set to the "Tiny" target bitrate (0.1bpp). Smooth, continuous grades look hideous on JPEG up to pretty high bitrates, and JPEG never quite reproduces hard edges or sharp specks properly; AV1 excels at both of these.
[0]: Image formats comparison <https://wyohknott.github.io/image-formats-comparison/#clovis...
I suspect they might be motivated by the rapid way in which HEIF seems to be taking over. My understanding is that comparatively, the patent situation of WebP is much better. If you're a company concerned about software patents on the web, it might suddenly seem that throwing your weight behind WebP as a way of avoiding the proliferation of HEIF is worthwhile.