[4.1] - 2026-03-23

Encoder

• Refactor MD, EncDec, and Entropy Coding kernels (!2604)
• Improve Still Image coding efficiency (!2612, !2614)
• Change Wiener Filter level for chroma for presets M3 and below (!2620)
• Optimize Screen Content coding for Still Image (!2630)

Arm

• Refactor Subpixel Variance kernels (!2608)
• Optimize 16b SAD kernel (!2610)
• Fixed Neoverse V2 unit test detection (!2622)
• Update Arm build guide (!2625)

Bug fixes and documentation

• Fixed a hang caused by improper variable looping (#2338, !2600)
• Add missing option 2 for --enable-dlf's help output (!2601)
• Depth Refinement algorithmic bug fix (!2602)
• Add mutexes to fix hangs when running multiple instances of the encoder in one process (!2603, !2605, !2619)
• Fix motion calculation for cyclic QP refresh (!2613)
• Fixed a Debug vs Release mismatch (!2618)
• Fixed some new warnings with newer GCC versions (!2621, !2636)
• Changed Temporal Filtering distortion calculation to not include padding (!2623)
• Cleanup some dead unit tests (!2626)
• Benchmark framework improvements (!2627)
• CI/CD improvements (!2628)
• Fixed some niche crashes (!2629)
• Readd missing PredStructure enum without SVT_AV1 prefix (!2635)
• Rename svt_log to prevent conflict with SVT-JPEG-XS (!2634)
• General code and doc cleanup (!2606, !2607, !2609, !2611, !2616, !2617, !2624, !2631, !2633, !2637)