Yesterday, Vimeo announced support for the AV1 video format. To my surprise, the announcement received some negative coverage as some think that it is not newsworthy.

Those dismissive of this announcement don’t realise that Vimeo is walking the walk and setting a great example for other “smaller” players, like other online streaming platforms and broadcasters (big and small) that would considerably increase their ROI in the AV1 format, by getting involved and making AV1 right for them.

Here are 3 important takeaways from the Vimeo announcement that some video experts overlooked:

Not another FAANG AV1 deployment

The wrong takeaway from the Vimeo announcement is: “Yet another member of the alliance deploying AV1, nothing to see here”. To my knowledge, Vimeo is the first streaming platform outside of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google to announce support for the AV1 format.

This is huge, because AV1 is often wrongfully accused of being a FAANG video format. By deploying AV1, Vimeo is busting this myth and showing that AV1 is the video format for everyone.

Not Google’s encoder

Another first in this announcement is that Vimeo has chosen the rav1e encoder from Mozilla over Google’s AV1 encoder. This is equally important because, as far as I know, no one else has put this encoder into production.

Image taken from Implementing tile encoding in rav1e

Similar to Intel and Netflix with SVT-AV1, Vimeo is not walking the beaten path with rav1e, which will greatly help diversify the AV1 ecosystem. This diversification not only drives competition between encoders, but also caters to the needs of different types of organisations.

Skin in the game

Last but certainly not least, Vimeo is actively involved in rav1e, they are “contributing to its development and participating in the community”. This is a crucial element, to the success of AV1 outside the FAANG. In order for the AV1 video format to be a solution for everyone, everyone needs to get involved in making it right for them.

That’s exactly what Vimeo did when it got involved in the alliance for open media and continues to do with it’s involvement in rav1e. Kudos Vimeo team, and keep us updated on your progress in your journey towards AV1; regardless of what others say about it.