Skip to main content

Intel Arc graphics use AV1 to improve Twitch streams

Intel has just announced that it will support AV1 video coding technology in the new Intel Arc GPUs.

The tech will offer hardware-accelerated encoding that may have a huge impact on video streaming quality, making it potentially attractive to streamers and viewers alike.

Intel's Arc AV1 demo featured two Elden Ring streams for comparison purposes.
Intel

AV1 stands for AOMedia Video 1 and is a royalty-free video coding format. It was first designed to support and improve the quality of video streams over the internet. Today, Intel announced that it will be adopting this format on its Arc GPUs, potentially giving a huge boost in video quality to streamed content.

Recommended Videos

Upon the release of Intel Arc Alchemist discrete graphics cards, AV1 is going to be Intel’s video encoding standard and will have an impact on the way content looks when streamed live. As such, considering that Intel is going to be the first in line to offer this kind of support for this technology, it could potentially make its GPUs much more interesting to streamers than they would have been otherwise. Of course, this depends on whether the technology is as good as it seems in Intel’s preview.

Intel promises to deliver up to 8K quality in both decoding and encoding in AV1. Decoding maxes out at 8K and 60 frames per second (fps) in 12-bit HDR quality, while encoding goes up to 8K resolution at 10-bit HDR. Intel refers to this as the industry-first full AV1 hardware acceleration and claims that the technology will prove to be up to 50 times faster than software encoding.

Intel's Arc AV1 demo featured two Elden Ring streams for comparison purposes.
Intel

Intel showed off a video of two separate streams of Elden Ring in order to demonstrate the power of AV1. To do so, game footage was captured via XSplit gamecaster in 1080p at 5Mbps. The first video used the H.265 advanced video coding (AVC) standard while the second video relied on Intel’s AV1.

Although at first glance, the difference in image quality may seem rather small, pausing reveals just how much more detailed the stream is when AV1 is being used. Environmental details, such as rocks, grass, and ground clutter, all have their own shape and texture. The stream on the left side, while it shows almost the exact scene from the game, is nowhere near as detailed and comes off as blurry in comparison.

The video goes on to display both background and foreground improvements, showing crisp graphics in the stream encoded in AV1 in every frame. Even individual blades of grass look much more pronounced in AV1, despite the fact that both streams are consuming the same bandwidth and are running at 1080p. The difference is definitely there, indicating that the technology shows a lot of potential when paired with Intel’s discrete GPU.

Intel Arc graphics cards are a huge milestone for Intel, marking the company’s entrance into the discrete GPU market. First found in laptops, they will be available in a desktop version later this year.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
Intel’s new $249 GPU brings 1440p gaming to the masses
An exploded view of Intel's Arc A580 GPU.

Intel is trying to redefine what a "budget GPU" really means in 2024, and it's doing so with the new Arc B580 GPU. In what Intel itself described as its "worst kept secret," the B580 is the debut graphics card in Intel's new Battlemage range of discrete GPUs, and it's arriving at just $249. That's a price point that's been relegated to 1080p for decades, but Intel says the B580 will change that dynamic.

It's a 1440p GPU, at least by Intel's definition. That's despite the fact that Intel is comparing the card to GPUs like the RTX 4060 and RX 7600, both of which are more expensive than the B580 and squarely target 1080p. Intel says it can deliver higher performance than these two GPUs while undercutting the price, all in an attempt to capitalize on 1440p gamers. "1440p is becoming 1080p," as Intel's Tom Petersen put it in a pre-briefing with the press.

Read more
Intel Battlemage is almost here, but the wait isn’t over
Intel Arc A770 GPU installed in a test bench.

After weeks of rumors, it's finally a fact: Intel Arc Battlemage is on the imminent horizon, and the company is set to announce its next-gen GPUs on December 3. However, according to leaks, we're not getting the full scope of Intel Battlemage just yet. In fact, it may be a long time before we see Battlemage rank among the best graphics cards.

It's been a quiet year for Intel's discrete graphics department, but the last few weeks have been filled with leaks, and now, Intel itself confirms that we're getting some sort of an announcement tomorrow. It's unclear what exactly is being announced, other than the fact that it's Battlemage.

Read more
Nvidia’s next-gen GPU plans could be good news for Intel and AMD
Two RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics cards sitting next to each other.

According to a new leak from Benchlife, Nvidia may launch the vast majority of the RTX 50-series in the first quarter of 2025 -- but one GPU is notably missing from the early lineup. That could be very good news for AMD and Intel. While Nvidia will rule the high-end market, the other two brands may get to swoop in with some of the best graphics cards for gamers on a budget and get some breathing room before Nvidia strikes back.

Benchlife reveals that we'll see many of the RTX 50-series staples arrive in the first quarter of the year. The flagship RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080 arriving in January feel like a sure thing at this point, but many leakers also suggest that we'll see other GPUs make their debut during CES 2025.

Read more