Re:Why This Obscure Audio Codec Is a Perfect Fit for the N64
by jcalvinowens on Thursday November 05, 2026 @12:23PM
(#50381759)
AV1 is royalty free and better!
Real example, I recorded the world series using an ATSC antenna, and I re-encoded a 90 second sample using a bunch of different settings on a 32-thread znver5:
(1) and (2) are completely indistinguishable from the original unless I go frame by frame looking for transient motion artifacts. (3) is only distinguishable in one shot where a dark background was washed out. Not only does AV1 produce results just as good as H265, it encodes quite a bit faster for the same size/quality.
That said, I've watched so much h264-encoded video over the past decade I think I've been trained to perceive the subtle visual "snow noise" as a sign of a high quality video: I find how AV1 blends backgrounds more visually objectionable than the snow in H265, even though I think it's objectively higher fidelity. Similar to how I find high frame rate video "fake" after having watched NTSC TV for the first half of my life.
Real example, I recorded the world series using an ATSC antenna, and I re-encoded a 90 second sample using a bunch of different settings on a 32-thread znver5:
(1) and (2) are completely indistinguishable from the original unless I go frame by frame looking for transient motion artifacts. (3) is only distinguishable in one shot where a dark background was washed out. Not only does AV1 produce results just as good as H265, it encodes quite a bit faster for the same size/quality.That said, I've watched so much h264-encoded video over the past decade I think I've been trained to perceive the subtle visual "snow noise" as a sign of a high quality video: I find how AV1 blends backgrounds more visually objectionable than the snow in H265, even though I think it's objectively higher fidelity. Similar to how I find high frame rate video "fake" after having watched NTSC TV for the first half of my life.