WebM vs MP4 [2026]: 3 Codecs, 1 Safe Default

WebM vs MP4 is a container question, and the codec inside the file decides almost everything a creator cares about. For uploads, client delivery and editing, MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio is still the safe default. WebM earns its place on websites, in browser-based tools and in workflows that want VP9 or AV1 compression. H.264 is published as ITU-T Recommendation H.264, and the sources checked on November 5, 2026 found no dated 2026 revision of it.

This comparison puts both containers next to the three codecs most often paired with them: H.264, VP9 and AV1. It leads with tables, then explains each row. Facts come from the codec projects, vendor documents and dated 2026 reports. Anything that rests on a single report is labeled that way in the text.

If you only need a file type for a YouTube upload, the MP4 column answers it in one line. If you are weighing MP4 against Apple’s container instead, the MP4 vs MOV comparison covers that pair on its own. If you are building an overlay, a website loop or a browser-based editor, keep reading, because that is where WebM matters.

WebM vs MP4 Specs Compared in 13 Rows

The table below is the whole argument in compressed form. Each row reflects what the WebM Project pages, the H.264 and AV1 specifications, and 2026 format-support documentation say, checked on November 5, 2026. Rows that depend on your own tools say so instead of guessing.

Three rows carry most of the decision. First, MP4 can hold AV1 as well as H.264, so choosing MP4 does not lock you into the oldest codec. Second, WebM’s list of codecs is shorter and open by design, so choosing WebM narrows who can play or edit the file. Third, a YouTube upload gets re-encoded no matter which container you send.

Older advice that says WebM means VP8 is out of date. Current references name VP9 as the common WebM codec and AV1 as the newer option. Older advice that says MP4 means H.264 is also incomplete, since MP4 can carry AV1 and, in some software, VP9. The takeaway for the rest of this article: compare codecs first, then pick the container that carries them to your target.

One more framing note. Nothing here describes a hands-on render test. The article reports what vendor pages, project documents and dated reports show, and it names the source whenever a figure comes from a single report. Where the sources conflict, the more conservative reading wins.

Containers and Codecs: What Each Box Holds

Container versus codec

A container is the wrapper that stores video, audio, captions and timing in one file. A codec is the method used to compress the picture or the sound. MP4 and WebM are containers. H.264, VP9 and AV1 are video codecs. That is why WebM against MP4 is not a direct codec comparison, and why two MP4 files can differ wildly in size and playback support.

Think of the container as the box and the codec as what is packed inside. A box that holds H.264 plays on nearly everything. A box that holds AV1 plays only where a decoder exists. Changing the box without changing the contents, a step called remuxing, takes seconds and costs no quality. Changing the contents, called transcoding, takes real time and always costs some quality.

For creators this matters at export time. Your editor’s export dialog usually offers a format (the container) and a codec as two separate dropdowns. If you pick a pair the container cannot hold, the editor may grey out options or fall back to a default. Reading both dropdowns before you hit render saves a failed upload later.

H.264, VP9 and AV1 in plain terms

H.264 (also called AVC or MPEG-4 Part 10) is the compatibility-first codec. Browsers, phones, cameras, editors and streaming systems all handle it, and it usually travels in MP4 with AAC audio. It compresses less efficiently than the newer options. No retirement, end-of-support notice or new H.264 version turned up in the sources for the three months to November 5, 2026.

VP9 is a mature, stable codec rather than a product with numbered consumer releases. It is most associated with WebM, though documentation shows it can also be written into MKV or MP4 by some software. Treat VP9 in MP4 as a niche path unless your delivery platform confirms it. Chromium issue records reportedly show the libvpx reference encoder v1.16.0 merged on January 21, 2026, which suggests maintenance continues while no new VP9 generation exists.

AV1 is the newer open codec from the Alliance for Open Media. It is the codec specification, while libaom and SVT-AV1 are encoder implementations you actually run. The Alliance has since moved on to AV2 as its newer generation, but that does not retire AV1, and software and browser platforms still show active AV1 work. For the older H.264 versus HEVC trade, which also lives inside MP4, see H.264 against H.265.

The audio side is simpler. WebM pairs its video codecs with Vorbis or Opus, and the practical MP4 default is AAC. If you convert between the two containers without touching the audio, check that the target accepts the audio codec as well, because that is the most common reason a clean-looking remux fails.

Compression and File Size: What the 2026 Sources Show

VP9 and AV1 generally compress better than H.264 at the same visual quality, and AV1 usually compresses better than VP9. That much is consistent across every 2026 source checked. The size of the gap is not. It depends on the footage, the encoder, the preset and how long you let the encoder run, so no single percentage should be treated as a rule.

That is why this section reports what each source measures rather than inventing a headline number. The table lists the 2026 pieces and documents used, with their dates, and what each one contributes to the WebM vs MP4 decision.

The first three sources agree on direction and differ on weight. The Fora Soft piece asks what bitrate each codec needs to hit the same quality, which is the right way to frame it. This article does not reproduce its percentages, because they hinge on test clips and settings that differ from yours. The StreamingMeme piece adds a point creators often miss: licensing and device support can outweigh a double-digit bitrate saving.

On the encoder side, the Alliance for Open Media’s note on SVT-AV1 4.0 describes major API updates. Per the project’s release notes, version 4.0.0 extended the CRF range to 70. Reports on later 4.x builds conflict on which version is newest, so this article only says the 4.x line is active. Separately, one report says AOMedia announced libaom v3.15 on September 26, 2026.

The hardware angle is on the NVIDIA Video Codec SDK 13.1 announcement. Dated July 31, 2026, it adds AV1 hierarchical-reference encoding with support for 1, 3, 7, 15 and 31 B-frames, plus a Docker-based development environment. For creators, that means GPU AV1 encoders in editors and recorders can improve over time, which narrows the speed penalty that makes software AV1 slow.

Practical rule: if file size matters, test your own footage. A talking-head clip with a static background behaves very differently from a gameplay capture with constant motion, and a source with heavy grain behaves differently again. Run this quick test before you commit to a codec for a whole library.

1. Pick a 10-second clip that represents your typical footage, plus one hard clip with fast motion.
2. Export each clip with H.264, VP9 and AV1, using the quality control (CRF or constant quality) rather than a fixed bitrate.
3. Match visual quality by eye at 100 percent zoom on the same frames, adjusting the quality value until the three look equal.
4. Compare file sizes and write down the encode time for each.
5. Multiply the saving by how often the file is served or stored, then decide whether the extra encode time pays off.

Using constant quality instead of a fixed bitrate matters because a fixed bitrate hides the difference. At the same bitrate, the newer codecs simply look better. At the same visual quality, they produce smaller files. The second framing is the one that tells you what you save.

Browser, Device and Player Support

H.264 in MP4 plays almost everywhere, and that single fact explains why it stays the default. The 2026 references describe it as the safer compatibility choice for editing, devices and platforms. VP9 and AV1 offer better compression but less universal support. The gap shows up in older phones, smart TVs, set-top boxes and some desktop players.

Safari is the usual trouble spot. Current guidance reports weaker Safari support for AV1 in MP4 than for H.264. WebM playback on Apple devices has improved over the years, but the sources checked here did not give a clean version matrix. If your audience includes iPhone viewers, serve an MP4 fallback and let the browser pick.

Windows on ARM shows how fragile the edge cases can be. A Microsoft VS Code issue dated October 26, 2026 reported that VP9 and AV1 video could not be decoded in the affected setup, so most WebM files did not play. That is one bug report, not a platform-wide verdict, but it fits the pattern. H.264 plays on a fresh machine with no extra codec. WebM sometimes needs one.

Hardware decoding matters more than most creators expect. A laptop that decodes a codec in dedicated silicon plays it cool and quiet, while one that falls back to software decoding can stutter and drain the battery. Support is spreading, but it is uneven by chip and by app.

For web developers, the W3C Media Working Group keeps publishing codec notes for WebCodecs. According to the W3C pages reviewed, the AVC (H.264), AV1 and VP9 registrations are all published as draft notes. The group’s own media activity page tracks the current drafts. WebCodecs itself was still described as work in progress rather than broadly available across browsers, so browser-based editors differ in what they can export.

What to do with this: pick H.264 in MP4 when you cannot control the playback device. Pick WebM only when you control the player (your own site, a kiosk, an app) or when you can supply an MP4 fallback next to it.

Editor and Recorder Support: Premiere, Resolve, CapCut and OBS

Every major editor offers MP4 with H.264, and that is the format its presets are built around. WebM export is patchier. The sources checked did not confirm a complete November 2026 export matrix for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, CapCut or OBS, so this article does not claim one. Treat the export dialog in your own version as the authority.

That caution is practical, not evasive. Editors rename presets between versions, and a codec that appears in one build can vanish behind a plugin in the next. A short test export takes under a minute and answers the question for your exact version. Open the export panel, look for WebM, VP9 or AV1 in the format and codec lists, and render five seconds.

On price, a single-source listing puts Adobe Premiere’s U.S. individual plan at $22.99 a month when billed monthly under an annual commitment, and lists DaVinci Resolve’s free version at $0. Both prices belong on the vendors’ own pages, so confirm them before you budget. The point for this comparison is that you do not pay extra for H.264 in MP4 in either tool. If you are shopping for an editor mainly on export limits, the roundup of free video editors and their export ceilings shows what each one allows without a subscription.

Third-party tools are adding the newer codecs faster than the big suites. A GitHub release for Visual Enhancer v22.0, dated November 4, 2026, reportedly added VP9 and WebM export and stated that WebM can hold AV1. A project changelog updated October 25, 2026 listed AV1 and VP9 encoding into MP4 among its outputs. Both are single reports from small projects, so read them as a sign of direction.

Editing and delivery are different jobs. Delivery codecs such as H.264 in MP4, VP9 and AV1 squeeze files small for viewers, which makes them harder work for an editor to scrub through. Many editors lean on proxy files or intermediate codecs for the timeline and keep the compressed delivery format for the final render. If your timeline stutters on an AV1 or VP9 clip, the fix is usually a proxy or a transcode on import, not a new editor.

Recording is a separate matter again. Many streamers capture in a crash-safe container first and convert to MP4 afterwards, a habit that comes from OBS workflows. Converting by remuxing keeps the video untouched, so it is quick and lossless. If you record AV1 or VP9 directly, confirm that your editor can import the result, because import support is often narrower than export support.

One more reported item, labeled as a rumor: Vegas Pro 2027 reportedly supports AVC/H.264 4:2:2 export on compatible hardware, per a report dated October 22, 2026. It shows vendors still add H.264 features in 2026, not just AV1 ones.

YouTube and Platform Upload Rules

For YouTube, upload MP4 with H.264 and AAC. YouTube’s upload guidance recommends an MP4 container with H.264. The platform then re-encodes your file. Viewers often receive VP9 or AV1 streams, but the platform picks that codec, not your export.

The same summary lists approximate upload bitrates: about 8 Mbps for 1080p at standard frame rates, 12 Mbps for 1080p at high frame rates, 35 to 45 Mbps for 4K at standard frame rates, and 53 to 68 Mbps for 4K at high frame rates. Treat these as reference points from one secondary summary and check YouTube’s own upload page before locking presets. They are a floor for detail, not a quality guarantee.

The available YouTube documentation does not show a general quality advantage from uploading VP9 or AV1 for ordinary videos. That is the key point against the idea that a WebM upload looks better. YouTube transcodes everything, so a clean high-bitrate H.264 master gives the encoder the most to work with.

HDR is the exception. AV1 and VP9 Profile 2 are recommended for HDR quality and 10-bit workflows, while H.264 10-bit is supported but may need very high bitrates. If you grade in HDR and export 10-bit, the codec choice matters more than for standard dynamic range. The official YouTube Blog is the place to watch for upload-policy changes.

Beware of treating every playback problem as a codec problem. A YouTube Help Community thread dated October 29, 2026 and updated November 4 alleges that some uploads stayed at 240p or 360p, with users speculating about AV1. Another post claimed some VP9 videos stutter and do not switch to AV1 at 4K. These are user reports, not official confirmations, and YouTube’s materials show no change of upload policy. The platform also logged a playback incident on October 28, 2026 involving buffering loops and black screens, which was marked fixed the same day.

If you upload through the API, one more detail applies. Per a single guide, upload calls now sit in a separate quota bucket, with a reported default of 100 videos.insert calls per day at one quota unit each. That affects tools that batch uploads, not the choice between WebM and MP4.

Transparency, Overlays and Web Embeds

WebM is the format creators reach for when a video must sit on top of something else, such as a stream alert, a lower third or a website hero loop. VP9 in WebM is a common route for transparent clips, and browsers can composite them directly. Your OBS scene, website or app must support the alpha channel, so test the file in the final environment before you build a whole pack around it.

MP4 with H.264 has no alpha channel in everyday workflows. That is the practical reason to keep a WebM or an image-sequence master of any overlay. A creator who ships stream alerts as MP4 gets a black rectangle where the transparency should be, and a creator who ships them as WebM gets clean edges but narrower playback support.

The same logic applies to intros and logo stings. A finished intro that plays before your content is a flat video, so MP4 is the right export. A logo animation that lives on a website over changing backgrounds is a candidate for WebM. If you are choosing an intro theme, the intro theme pages list resolution, length and frame rate for each, which gives you the numbers you need before you pick an export setting.

Captions follow a similar rule. Burned-in captions are part of the picture, so any container carries them. Soft captions (separate tracks) depend on the player. If you rely on auto-generated captions, the comparison of auto captions in five editors shows which tools can burn them in at export.

Short, looping, muted clips are where WebM with VP9 or AV1 pays off on a web page. Smaller files load faster, and a failed codec only costs you a background. For anything with sound or a long runtime, an MP4 fallback should sit next to it. In a streaming scene, keep the overlay file short and loop it in the software rather than shipping a long render.

Pricing and Licensing: What These Formats Cost

Neither container has a price. MP4 has no product, subscription plan or official retail price, and the sources checked identified no format price for WebM either. The money enters through the software you use and, for H.264, through patent licensing that falls mostly on companies that make or distribute encoders and decoders.

H.264 licensing is where confusion starts. Via Licensing Alliance administers the AVC pool after the 2023 combination of Via Licensing and MPEG LA. For new AVC streaming licenses beginning in 2026, Via LA replaced its flat annual-cap model with a tiered fee structure. Existing licensees with active licenses at the end of 2025 reportedly kept their prior terms.

According to Via LA’s fee page, updated October 30, 2026 in the result checked, the first 100,000 encoder or decoder units per year cost $0.00, units 100,001 to 5,000,000 cost $0.20 each, and units above 5,000,000 cost $0.10 each. These figures come from one fee page, so read the pool’s own terms before relying on them.

For an individual creator exporting H.264 from licensed editing software, none of this changes the bill. The royalty obligations sit with the companies that ship encoders. A current industry explainer reportedly describes US 7,826,532 as the last U.S. patent in the Via LA pool to expire. Patent expiry does not necessarily end every licensing claim in every country, so it is not a reason to change formats today.

Be careful with one adjacent story. Late-2025 news about consolidating the administration of an HEVC and VVC pool concerns those codecs, not H.264. Likewise, a patent dispute that pushed one streaming service toward VP9 (covered in the examples below) says nothing about what you owe as a creator.

The real cost of switching is time. AV1 encoding is generally slower, so a library re-encode can tie up a machine for hours or days depending on hardware. Add the time to test playback on target devices and to keep an MP4 fallback. For a small channel, that labor usually costs more than any storage the smaller files would save.

Six Real-World Examples From 2026

These cases show where the choice between WebM-style codecs and MP4 with H.264 plays out. Each is dated, and single-source items are flagged.

• Disney+ moves 4K streams from HEVC to VP9 (August 2026). After an HEVC-related patent dispute, Disney+ began restoring 4K on certain devices by switching affected streams to VP9. Dolby Vision stayed unavailable on those streams and compatibility remained limited. The lesson: a codec swap can rescue a delivery path, but it trades features for reach.
• VP9 for HDR10 on some devices (late October to early November 2026). Reports say Disney+ used VP9 Profile 2 to restore HDR10 on some devices in affected European markets and Brazil. This is a single-report item, and it should not be read as proof of a new official VP9 generation.
• Windows ARM64 decode failure (October 26, 2026). A VS Code issue reported that VP9 and AV1 could not be decoded in one environment, which broke most WebM playback there. A single bug report, but a clear reminder that WebM needs a working decoder.
• NVIDIA adds AV1 B-frame encoding (July 31, 2026). Video Codec SDK 13.1 added AV1 hierarchical-reference encoding. Editors and recorders that build on it can encode AV1 faster on GPUs, which is the main brake on AV1 adoption for creators.
• YouTube HDR upload guidance. The page recommends AV1 and VP9 Profile 2 for HDR. For creators grading in HDR, it is the one place where an official page pushes you off plain 8-bit H.264.
• Third-party tools add VP9 and AV1 outputs (October to November 2026). Visual Enhancer v22.0 added VP9 and WebM export on November 4, and a separate project changelog listed AV1 and VP9 encoding into MP4. These are small-project reports, but they show export support improving outside the big suites.

The pattern across all six: delivery platforms and tool makers adopt VP9 and AV1 when a business or technical reason exists. Creators keep H.264 in MP4 for the file they hand over. The two coexist, and that is the trend the sources describe for 2026.

One more datapoint helps explain the pace. The W3C published draft Group Notes for AVC, VP9 and AV1 inside WebCodecs between June and October 2026, which gives browser-based editors a shared way to describe these codecs. Standards work like this rarely makes headlines, but it decides whether the next generation of web editors can export what you want without a plugin.

Use-Case Recommendations

Pick by destination, not by taste. These seven recommendations cover the common creator jobs, with the reason for each.

1. YouTube upload. Export MP4 with H.264 and AAC. YouTube re-encodes anyway, and its guidance recommends this combination. Keep the bitrate high so the platform encoder has detail to work with, and keep the frame rate the same as your recording.
2. Client delivery. Deliver MP4 with H.264. Clients open files on laptops, phones and old conference-room PCs. A file that will not play costs you more than a larger file does.
3. Stream alerts and overlays with transparency. Use WebM with VP9 if your streaming software accepts it, and test the alpha channel on the actual scene. Keep a source project so you can re-export.
4. Website background loops. Serve WebM with VP9 or AV1 first and an MP4 fallback second. Smaller files help page speed, and the fallback covers browsers that struggle with the newer codecs.
5. Social posts in vertical formats. Export MP4 with H.264. Platform upload tools expect it, and they re-encode again. Frame size and length caps matter more than the container here, so check each platform’s current limits before you render.
6. HDR masters. Export 10-bit with AV1 or VP9 Profile 2 for YouTube HDR, or keep a high-bitrate master in a container your editor handles. Test playback on a real HDR display.
7. Archiving and storage. Keep a high-quality master in the codec your editor handles best, usually H.264 or an intermediate codec, then create smaller AV1 or VP9 copies for storage if disk space is the problem.

Render settings

The table below maps each destination to a container, video codec and audio codec. It leaves resolution and frame rate to match your source footage, since matching the recording frame rate is the standing advice for uploads.

Migration Guide: Moving Between WebM and MP4

Start by checking what is inside your file, then decide whether you need a remux or a transcode. A remux changes the container and keeps the codec. A transcode changes the codec and costs quality. Most migration mistakes come from transcoding when a remux would have worked, or the reverse.

Follow these steps for any conversion.

1. Inspect the file. Run a probe tool such as ffprobe and read the video and audio codec names.
2. Check the target. Does your editor, site or platform accept the codec, not just the container?
3. If the codec is accepted, remux. If it is not, transcode from the best source you have, not from a previous compressed export.
4. Keep the original. Store the source file until the new one has played on the target device.
5. Play the result end to end on the real target, including audio sync and, for overlays, the alpha channel.

FFmpeg commands for common conversions. The encoder name for VP9 is libvpx-vp9, and SVT-AV1 is exposed as libsvtav1 in builds that include it. Treat the quality values as starting points and adjust them against your own footage. A lower CRF value means higher quality and a larger file.

# WebM (VP9 + Opus) to MP4 (H.264 + AAC), transcode for editors and social uploads
ffmpeg -i input.webm -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset slow -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 192k output.mp4

# MP4 (H.264) to WebM (VP9 + Opus), transcode for the web
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 32 -b:v 0 -c:a libopus output.webm

# MP4 to WebM with AV1 (needs an FFmpeg build with SVT-AV1)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libsvtav1 -crf 35 -c:a libopus output-av1.webm

# Remux only: same codecs, new container, no quality loss (works when both containers accept the codecs)
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4

Two cautions. First, a remux fails if the target container does not accept the codec inside, for example Opus audio in some MP4 setups. In that case, copy the video and re-encode only the audio. Second, do not chain lossy conversions. Going from H.264 to VP9 and back to H.264 loses detail each time, so always return to the original export when you can.

If you are migrating a whole library, convert a representative sample first. Pick a dark scene, a high-motion scene and a talking-head scene. Compare sizes and check the same frames at 100 percent zoom. Only then script the batch. After conversion, update embed code, playlists and any editor projects that point to old file paths.

Three failure patterns show up again and again. A converted file with no sound usually means the target container rejected the audio codec. A file that plays in one browser and not another points to a codec the second browser lacks, so add the fallback. A file that looks washed out after conversion usually lost its color range or pixel format, which is why the H.264 command above sets yuv420p for broad compatibility.

Pros and Cons of Each Format

The cons share a theme. Every advantage of the newer codecs costs either encoding time or reach. Every advantage of H.264 costs file size. Which cost you accept depends on whether the file is going to a stranger’s device or to a player you control.

A fair challenge to this table: for a one-off video, does a smaller file matter at all? Often it does not. Storage is cheap, and an upload goes through a platform re-encode anyway. File size matters most for sites that serve the same clip thousands of times, and for creators with limited disk space or slow uploads.

Verdict: MP4 With H.264 Wins for Delivery, WebM for the Web

Export MP4 with H.264 and AAC unless you have a specific reason not to. That is the verdict for YouTube, clients, social platforms and editing handoffs. The 2026 sources agree that H.264 in MP4 stays the safest choice for compatibility, and no source checked showed a retirement or a platform policy change that would alter it.

Choose WebM when the file lives on the web or in a tool you control. VP9 is the mature option and AV1 the newer one. Use WebM for transparent overlays, looping backgrounds and browser delivery, ideally with an MP4 fallback. Choose AV1 over VP9 only if your encoder speed, playback targets and tools support it.

Count the evidence. Of the six scenarios above, MP4 with H.264 wins three outright, WebM wins two, and one goes to the newer codecs for HDR. That split is the honest picture. The formats do different jobs, and the trend the 2026 sources describe is coexistence, with H.264 in MP4 for compatibility, AV1 for efficiency and VP9 in WebM for web delivery.

One forward-looking note, hedged: a report dated October 31, 2026 mentions a planned AV2 rollout on YouTube in 2027. AV2 is the Alliance’s newer-generation codec, and it does not mean AV1 is retired or that you should change today’s export. For more export and codec guides, browse the export and codecs section. Checked November 5, 2026.

Common questions

Is WebM better than MP4?

Neither is better in general. WebM is an open container built around VP8, VP9 and AV1, and it suits web delivery and transparent overlays. MP4 with H.264 plays on far more devices and editors, so it suits uploads and client files.

Does a WebM upload look better on YouTube?

The YouTube documentation checked does not show a general quality advantage from uploading VP9 or AV1. The platform re-encodes every upload and recommends MP4 with H.264. A high-bitrate H.264 master is the safe input.

Can MP4 hold AV1 or VP9?

MP4 can hold AV1, and some software writes VP9 into MP4. Support varies by player. Safari is weaker for AV1 in MP4 than for H.264, so test on the devices you care about.

Is VP9 outdated in 2026?

No. VP9 is a mature codec that remains in use for web and streaming video, and no retirement or replacement was found. AV1 is the newer codec in the same family, and AV2 is the Alliance’s next generation, but VP9 is still supported.

Do I have to pay for H.264?

Not as a creator exporting from licensed editing software. H.264 patent licensing mainly concerns companies that make or distribute encoders and decoders, and Via LA administers the AVC pool.

Which format should I use for stream overlays?

Use WebM with VP9 when you need transparency and your streaming software supports it. Test the alpha channel in the actual scene. For flat full-screen clips, MP4 with H.264 is simpler.

Can I convert WebM to MP4 without losing quality?

Only if the target container accepts the codecs inside, in which case a remux with stream copy keeps quality. If you must change the codec, for example VP9 to H.264, the conversion is a transcode and costs some quality. Start from the original export when possible.

Should I switch my exports to AV1 now?

Only for specific jobs such as HDR uploads, storage copies or web delivery with a fallback. AV1 encodes more slowly and plays on fewer devices, so keep H.264 in MP4 as your default handoff format.

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