AV1 Image File Format v1.0 Finalized

The AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) appears solid now with it having been promoted to version 1.0.0.

The AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) is the specification for storing images and image sequences (animated images) compressed via AV1 in the HEIF High-Efficiency Image File Format. AV1, of course, being the promising royalty-free video coding format competing with the likes of HEVC/H.265. This is to AV1 as the WebP image format is to VP9/WebM.

The AV1 Image File Format continues making inroads and being worked on by the likes of Netflix and Microsoft, among other tech companies. Back in December, Netflix began publishing sample AVIF sample images here.

A Phoronix reader pointed out that the specification is now marked as version 1.0.0 with a publication date of 19 February 2019.

We haven't seen any formal v1.0 announcement of AVIF, but it indeed appears firmed up and the Git repo points to it being ready for publication.

Here's to hoping the AV1 Image File Format will take off where as WebP and other newer JPEG/GIF alternatives haven't exactly received much widespread adoption. Not helping matters is unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any reference tooling around the AVIF file format yet but the likes of VLC have already been working on support. Windows 10 Build 1903 is also reportedly on track for supporting this open-source image file format.