UK-based video compression specialist V-Nova has presented results of a study hot off the press, carried out in collaboration with Intel and Meta, that shape MPEG-5 LCEVC as a valuable tool for enhancing SVT-AV1 (the Scalable Video Technology extension of the AV1 codec). The bottom line is improved compression efficiency – supporting efforts of the Alliance for Open Media to shake AV1’s power-guzzling reputation. While the technical research paper is not exclusive to SVT-AV1, also assessing LCEVC as an enhancement tool for quality-cycles trade-offs across the full complexity range for AVC, HEVC and AV1, it does appear that LCEVC is particularly well-suited for SVT-AV1. This in itself is not a surprising conclusion, as debates have come and gone ever since SVT-AV1…