YouTube has acknowledged and resolved a significant video quality issue that affected AV1-encoded videos uploaded between April 1 and May 30, 2025. The problem caused videos to appear blurry, blocky, or grainy at 1080p resolution despite using the advanced AV1 codec, which typically delivers superior compression and image quality.
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The Problem and Its Impact
The issue emerged in early April when creators began adopting AV1 encoding for their uploads. Instead of experiencing the promised benefits of clearer pictures and better compression, many videos displayed noticeably degraded quality. Viewers reported seeing fuzzy visuals and odd artifacts, particularly at 1080p resolution, leading to widespread complaints from subscribers and frustration among content creators.
The glitch specifically affected video-on-demand (VOD) uploads processed through YouTube’s AV1 encoding pipeline. Live streams remained unaffected since they follow a separate processing pathway. This distinction helped YouTube engineers identify and isolate the problem more effectively.
YouTube’s Response and Fix
Team YouTube confirmed that a bug in their processing system was causing AV1-encoded videos to render at lower quality than intended. The engineering team has successfully resolved the underlying code issue, ensuring that all new uploads using AV1 encoding now process correctly at their intended resolution and bitrate.
For content creators uploading videos today, the full benefits of the AV1 codec are now available without quality degradation. The fix prevents any new uploads from experiencing the same processing problems that plagued videos during the affected period.
Timeline for Complete Resolution
While the core issue has been fixed, YouTube faces the challenge of reprocessing thousands of affected videos already in their system. The company plans to convert all impacted uploads to high-quality VP9 or AV1 versions by mid-June 2025.
Key points about the recovery process:
- Automatic conversion: All affected videos will be reprocessed without creator intervention
- No immediate fix: Existing problematic videos remain in the processing queue
- Gradual improvement: Viewers may still encounter grainy playback until reprocessing completes
- Complete resolution: All videos from the April 1 – May 30 window should display proper quality by mid-June
Impact on Content Creators
Many creators had switched to AV1 encoding specifically to reduce bandwidth usage while maintaining video quality. The promise of smaller file sizes without visual compromise made the codec particularly attractive for channels producing high-resolution content. However, the quality issues forced some creators to reconsider their encoding choices and deal with subscriber complaints about poor video quality.
The automatic reprocessing means creators don’t need to re-upload their affected content. YouTube’s backend systems will handle the conversion process, restoring videos to their intended quality levels without requiring additional action from channel owners.
The resolution of this issue represents a significant step forward for YouTube’s video processing capabilities and should restore confidence in the AV1 codec’s implementation on the platform.