The streaming landscape in Brazil
changed significantly in 2026 — not
because of new content libraries or
subscription price changes, but because
of a codec called AV1.
AV1 reduces data consumption by
approximately 34 percent compared
to H.264 at equivalent visual quality
on devices with hardware AV1 decode
support. For users on 10GB monthly
mobile plans this means 13 hours
versus 20 hours of content — a
difference that determines whether
a streaming platform is practically
usable for an entire month.
The hardware threshold was crossed
in 2022 when budget Android TV
chipsets began including dedicated
AV1 hardware decoders. Before this
point software AV1 decode caused
CPU overload and thermal throttling.
After 2022 AV1 decode became free
in power and performance terms on
budget devices.
Our April 2026 testing across three
Android TV chipsets showed that
chipset generation is the primary
predictor of sustained AV1 streaming
stability — more important than RAM
or storage specification.
Amlogic S928X (Ugoos AM8 Pro)
maintained 52 degrees Celsius after
3 hours of 4K AV1 streaming with
0.02 percent frame drops.
MediaTek MT8695 (Fire TV Stick 4K Max)
reached 58 degrees after 3 hours
with zero frame drops.
Amlogic S905X4 (Onn 4K Pro) reached
68 degrees after 3 hours with 20.3
percent frame drops — indicating
thermal throttling on sustained load.
The 16 degree gap between S928X and
S905X4 under identical conditions
cannot be overcome by adding RAM.
It is a chipset generation difference.
For live sports the combination of
AV1 efficiency and low-latency HLS
protocol delivers 1.4 second latency
versus 8 to 20 seconds on cable —
making free streaming platforms
practically competitive for live
football in Brazil for the first time.
Full benchmark methodology and
installation guides for Android TV
Fire TV Stick Samsung LG Roku
Chromecast iOS and PC are available
at youcinez.com
PwC, in its fifth annual TV and video consumption survey, reported that the number of U.S. consumers who have cut the cord with their pay-TV service providers continue to rise, but demand for live sports continues to be one major reason why many people remain reluctant to drop their traditional TV services.
The research giant said, “Cord cutting has more momentum than ever.” The survey reveals that 19% of respondents said they cut the cord, up from 17% in 2016 and from 16% in 2015.
At the same time, 73% of the 1,986 Americans in the age group of 18-59 years old with annual household incomes of more than $40,000 said that they still subscribed to pay-TV, down from 76% in 2016 and from 79% in 2015.
The number of viewers “trimming” their pay-TV subscriptions without cutting them completely also rose to 27% this year, up from 22% last year, and from 18% in 2015.
According to the report, at present the number of respondents who use Netflix is the same as those who use pay-TV.
At 63%, older consumers in the age group of 50-59 years old have the highest growth ratio for OTT services users, up from 48% in 2016.
