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Apple Makes Sweeping Changes to HLS Encoding Recommendations

N2224 has long been considered the Rosetta Stone of ABR encoding (image courtesy of Beamr). Apple TN2224 was originally posted in March 2010 to provide direction for streaming producers encoding for delivery to iOS devices via HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). Because the document was so comprehensive and well thought out, and HLS became so successful, TN2224 has often been thought of …

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Containing Costs: How Publishers Can Save Money on ABR Encoding

Many companies spend too much on adaptive bitrate encoding. In turns out there’s a pricey way to go about it and a cheaper way. Dynamic packaging to the rescue! Let me throw a couple of numbers at you. The first is shown in Figure 1, from Encoding.com’s “Global Media Format Report 2016,” which shows the respective share of the adaptive …

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How To: Build Your Own Cloud Encoder With FFmpeg

Here’s the session description; click below to download the handout and watch the session. Almost all of the commercial cloud encoding services, and many of the largest streaming producers encode in the cloud using FFmpeg. It’s cheap, relatively simple, and highly effective. To accomplish this yourself, you need two basic skill sets; first how to encode with FFmpeg, and then …

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D101 – How To: Fine-Tuning Your Adaptive Encoding Groups With Objective Quality Metrics

Here’s the session description; scroll down to download the handout and watch the video. Choosing the number of streams in an adaptive group and configuring them is usually a subjective, touchy-feely exercise, with no way to gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of the streams. However, by measuring stream quality via metrics such as PSNR, SSIM, and VQM, you can precisely …

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W2: Encoding 2016: Codecs and Packaging for PCs, Mobile and OTT/STB/Smart TVs

Here’s the description for my workshop at Streaming Media West; download the handout below: As video resolutions increase and target playback platforms multiply, video producers must leave their H.264/HLS/HDS comfort zone and expand into HEVC, VP9, and MPEG-DASH. This workshop is divided into multiple segments by target platform to teach you the applicable standards and best strategies for delivering live …

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Cloud Pricing Survey Shows Hybrik Least Expensive Option By Far

I recently finished a white paper comparing the pricing for a new cloud encoding service named Hybrik with multiple cloud providers, including Amazon Elastic Transcoder, Microsoft Azure, Bitmovin, encoding.com, Telestream Cloud, and Zencoder. The white-paper was sponsored by Hybrik, and you can download it below. By way of background, I ran all calculations by the respective services (except Amazon) to verify my …

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Review: Matrox Monarch LCS

The Matrox Monarch LCS is an inexpensive dual-input lecture capture solution with two output channels that can be independently set for recording and/or streaming.   At $2,495, the Matrox Monarch LCS is an inexpensive dual-input lecture capture solution with two output channels that can be independently set for recording and/or streaming. You control the unit via a standard browser, and …

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Benchmarking PCs, Capture Cards, and Software Mixers for HD Capture and Streaming

To determine how powerful a system it takes to produce and deliver live event streams, we tested a range of computers (old and new), capture devices, and multiple live streaming software programs, streaming to one or more streaming services, recording archive/ISO files in various formats, and measuring CPU utilization. Read on for the results. When you’re producing a live event …

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How to Stream to Facebook Live

Anyone can stream to Facebook Live, but if you want to deliver live video via a computer with streaming or encoding software, read on. With 1.65 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social network in the world. It’s no surprise that when the company introduced live streaming, the online video industry took notice. “If Facebook introduces a new …

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Review: Livestream Mevo

If you frequently produce live or on-demand videos for social media sites, Livestream Mevo can help you produce more polished and engaging videos. While there are some rough edges in version 1.0, and there is a learning curve for operation, Mevo is an essential tool for any organization seeking to leverage the power of video in its social media marketing. …

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