Accelerated Media
Accelerated Media is a collection of features to optimize media delivery without sacrificing visual quality. Accelerated Media includes support for AVIF format images and the VP9 and HEVC media codecs. When requesting images in AVIF format, you'll see file sizes up to 50% smaller than JPEG and 20% smaller than WebP. Using the VP9 and HEVC (also referred to as H265) video codecs you can encode videos at around 40% of the size when compared with VP8 and H264. With more efficient images and video formats, your pages will load faster and provide a better experience for your users.
Accelerated Media also includes an updated version of Amplience Smart Images, the feature that will serve an image in the most appropriate format for the browser that requests it. This includes support for delivering AVIF format images in supported browsers.
To purchase Accelerated Media and have it enabled on your account, contact us.
AVIF formatLink copied!
When Accelerated Media is enabled on your account, you can request images in AVIF format using the Media Delivery API by adding the format parameter to the image URL:
To ensure optimal encoding performance, AVIF will only be returned for images of less than 2.5 megapixels, calculated by width x height in pixels. If the image is greater than 2.5 megapixels, it will be returned in JPEG or PNG format. However, most images should be within this limit.
Amplience Smart ImagesLink copied!
When using Amplience Smart Images, if you add the auto format parameter to the image URL, images will be returned in AVIF format if the browser supports it:
In the example below, the image is returned in AVIF format, at a size 20% smaller than WebP:
To use fmt=auto it must be included in the image URL. It cannot be included in transformation templates or root templates.
VP9 and HEVC video codecsLink copied!
You can encode your video using the VP9 and HEVC codecs by applying a new video transcoding profile. New profiles will be set up for you when Accelerated Media is enabled on your account, as shown below, but you can also add your own.
Video transcoding profiles can be applied to video automatically when it is ingested using bulk upload, or you can choose to encode the video manually in Content Hub. For existing video you'll need to re-encode it using the new transcoding profiles and re-publish it.
Developers will also need to update their front end code to include the new transcoding profiles and deliver the video in the most appropriate format for the user.
Video transcoding profilesLink copied!
The following table shows the video transcoding profiles that are installed on your account when you have Accelerated Media enabled, including the transcoding profiles specific to Accelerated Media.
The four profiles shown in bold will be applied when video is ingested via bulk upload, but you can request for other profiles to be applied.
If you use the GraphQL Asset Management API to upload videos they are not automatically transcoded. Instead, you must transcode video files in the same way as if you had manually uploaded them. See Uploading video to Content Hub.
| Transcoding profile | Compatibility | Quality | Accelerated media only? | Apply on bulk upload? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VP9-1080p | Android / Chrome, Firefox, Edge | Full HD | Yes | No (can be requested if needed) |
| HEVC-1080p | iOS, Safari | Full HD | Yes | No (can be requested if needed) |
| VP9-720p | Android / Chrome, Firefox, Edge | HD | Yes | Yes |
| HEVC-720p | iOS, Safari | HD | Yes | Yes |
| MP4-720p | All: fallback for older browsers/devices | HD | No | Yes |
| MP4-480p | All: fallback for slower connections such as 3G | Standard | No | Yes |
| MP4-240p: Not required (low quality) | All: not usually required | Low | No | No |
| WebM-720p: Not required, replaced by VP9 | Android/Chrome | HD | No | No |
| WebM-480p: Not required (MP4-480p has better compatibility). Replaced by VP9 | Android/Chrome | Standard | No | No |
| WebM-240p: Not required (low quality). Replaced by VP9. | Android/Chrome | Low | No | No |
See the can I use website for details of browser compatibility for the HEVC and VP9 video codecs.
How do I get Accelerated Media?Link copied!
Accelerated Media includes the following features:
- Amplience Smart Images
- AVIF format support
- Support for the VP9 and HEVC video codecs
To purchase Accelerated Media and have it enabled on your account, contact us.