MLVC: Microsoft Builds an ML Video Codec for NPUs
Techstrong.ai, Monday, July 27th, 2026
Microsoft open sources MLVC, a neural video codec using NPUs to cut bandwidth to roughly one-eighth of traditional codecs.
Microsoft has released MLVC, a machine learning-based video codec designed to dramatically reduce storage and bandwidth needs compared to traditional codecs like H.264.
The technology leverages Neural Processing Units (NPUs) to efficiently handle neural video compression, using only about half of an NPU's available capacity.
In testing, MLVC required roughly 12% of the bandwidth needed by H.264 for equivalent video quality. Microsoft has open sourced the project to accelerate hardware platform support and improve real-time performance, with the technology already deployed in Microsoft Teams.