Case Studies / Streaming the Grand Opening of Prague’s Dvorecký Bridge with AV1 Efficiency

Streaming the Grand Opening of Prague’s Dvorecký Bridge with AV1 Efficiency

02 Jun 2026 - 07:06

On Friday, April 17, 2026, Prague celebrated a major infrastructure milestone with the opening of the Dvorecký Bridge, connecting the districts of Zlíchov and Podolí. To capture this event for a global audience, SlowTV, a leader in high-quality, long-form livestreams, partnered with CamStreamer and Axis Communications.

About the project

The Dvorecký Bridge is a vital new architectural and functional landmark in Prague, designed to connect the Zlíchov and Podolí districts. Spanning the Vltava River, it was built primarily to serve public transport, pedestrians, and cyclists, creating a new rhythm for the city's movement. The grand opening took place on Friday, April 17, 2026, featuring a ceremony followed by a rich public program including vintage bus rides, special tram lines, and family activities. 

The client, SlowTV, a popular YouTube channel known for its high-quality, long-form live streams, wanted to capture this historic moment and provide a permanent, 24/7 view of the bridge for its viewers. The challenge was to deliver a high-definition stream from a location where internet bandwidth had to be shared among multiple cameras on-site. 

Technical Solution

For this project, we deployed the AXIS P1488-LE Bullet Camera, which is powered by the latest ARTPEC-9 chipset. This hardware is essential as it provides the processing power required for the AV1 codec.

The 4K Axis camera covers the entire bridge and its surroundings, but for the stream itself we only used a section of the overall image.

The software backbone consisted of the CamStreamer App for direct streaming to YouTube and the CamOverlay App for displaying real-time information and graphics. Thanks to the overlay graphics with text, viewers have the opportunity to learn interesting information about the bridge. This setup marked our first public live stream utilizing the AV1 codec. 

The decision to use AV1 was strategic:

• Bandwidth Efficiency & Superior Compression: Because the internet connection on-site was shared with other cameras, we needed a way to maintain high video quality while significantly reducing bitrates.

• Future-Proofing: As the first public implementation of this codec in our streaming projects, it served as a successful pilot for next-generation video delivery.

Result

Switching to the modern AV1 video standard delivers superior streaming efficiency and clearer video than legacy H.264 and H.265 codecs. Compared to H.264, AV1 reduces bitrates by roughly 40 % while preserving critical forensic details like license plates even under low bandwidth. When stacked against H.265, AV1 matches its high-resolution clarity and reduces bitrates by 25 % on newer ARTPEC-9 chips. Most importantly, AV1 eliminates complicated licensing fees, driving universal support across all major browsers operating systems and mobile platforms.

The stream was not just a one-day event; it continues to run, providing a live look at the bridge's daily operations. As of May 15th, the stream has reached nearly 40,000 views (CamStreamer Live Gallery – Dvorecký Bridge), proving the high level of public interest in this new urban connection.

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Case Studies / Streaming the Grand Opening of Prague’s Dvorecký Bridge with AV1 Efficiency