Kodi 20 Released With VA-API AV1 Support, Steam Deck Controls Support

Kodi 20 "Nexus" was released today as the latest major feature release for this widely-used HTPC/PVR software formerly known as XBMC.

It's been nearly two years since the release of Kodi 19 "Matrix" while out this weekend is Kodi 20 "Nexus" as the newest version of this open-source and cross-platform HTPC/PVR software.

Among the highlights to find with Kodi 20 include:

- AV1 codec support within the InputStream code. There is also a fix to not attempt to use hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding if wanting to force AV1 software decoding.

- AV1 accelerated hardware decoding via the Video Acceleration API (VA-API) on Linux systems.

- Kodi has added Steam Deck controls support for enhancing the experience if wanting to use Kodi 20 on Steam Deck handhelds.

- Multi-instance support for PVR client add-ons.

- Performance optimizations and code refactoring to the PVR recording code.

- Support for "continue watching" (resume) for certain video folders from the context menu of several folder locations.

- Fixes and improvements to the TV channel/show information scrapers.

The Kodi 20 sources are available from GitHub while the Kodi 20 binaries for various platforms can be found on Kodi.tv.