AMSTERDAM, IBC2026— VisualOn, Inc. and Cires21 today released an updated joint whitepaper at IBC 2026 demonstrating measurable, high-impact improvements in visual quality alongside substantial average-bitrate savings from integrating the VisualOn Optimizer, an AI-enhanced, award-winning content-adaptive encoding solution, into Cires21’s transcoding pipeline. The findings arrive as broadcasters and streaming operators face mounting pressure to deliver flawless picture quality to global audiences while controlling CDN and storage costs.

The whitepaper builds on the companies’ earlier VMAF research by benchmarking H.264, HEVC, and AV1 performance across software encoding, NVIDIA NVENC, NETINT, and Intel QuickSync hardware. On software encoding, NETINT, and Intel QuickSync, the Optimizer holds or improves VMAF while cutting average bitrate; on NVIDIA NVENC, it delivers the same quality gains at iso-bitrate, with no meaningful change in average bitrate. For Cires21 customers, this translates directly into lower CDN and storage costs at equivalent or better quality.

Headline findings from the research:

• Software Encoding Savings: Optimizer holds or improves visual quality while cutting average bitrate by 59% to 76% across the whole ABR ladder for both H.264 and HEVC.
• NETINT and Intel QuickSync: Both platforms combine drastic quality gains on the lower rungs — up to 29 VMAF points on Intel QuickSync and up to 19 points on NETINT — with 39% to 63% bitrate savings.
• NVIDIA NVENC Excellence: The Optimizer delivers a 6-to-15-point VMAF boost at iso-bitrate, meaning better pictures at no extra delivery cost.

Visit VisualOn booth at Hall 5, A55 for details.