Summary This research-based article details the factors to consider when choosing the segment duration for DASH or HLS. By way of background, when choosing an HLS or DASH segment duration for VOD video, the nature of the server/player connection is critical. For persistent connections, a segment size of two-three seconds produces good quality and optimal system throughput. For non-persistent connections, …

One of the reasons I favor HP workstations is because HP practices the Japanese art of kaizen, or continuous small improvements. A great example is the recent update to HP’s entry level desktop tower, the Z240 (on the left, click to see full rez picture), which has been upgraded to accept CPUs running at up to 4.2 GHz and several …

Netflix started the per-title encode optimization revolution in December 2015, and now per-title encoding is showing up in more and more places. Why? Because it improves the quality of hard-to-encode videos, and saves bandwidth costs on easier-to-encode videos. If per-title optimization is not available in your encoder or encoding service, it’s time to start demanding it.  OK, perhaps the title …

If you haven’t been watching the live titling space, you’ve missed the NDI revolution, and your productions may be falling behind in terms of graphics quality. In this article I’ll explain what NDI is and how it works, and I’ll explore how it enhances the titling capabilities of the NewTek TriCaster, Telestream Wirecast, and vMix GO. I’ll also look at …

The move away from plugins like Flash and Silverlight has made video delivery easier, but it’s also made DRM more complicated. Here’s what DRM looks like today, along with a discussion of the leading DRM technologies and DRM service providers. If you plan to distribute premium content from the major U.S. studios, you’ll need to encrypt that content, which typically …

The promise of a unifying standard to simplify our lives is attractive, but putting it into practice is another thing. Here’s how one HTML5 video project got messy in a hurry. As much as we expect standards like HTML5 to simplify our jobs, oftentimes they don’t. In fact, a recent HTML5-related project convinced me that the term “multivendor standard” is …

Stephen Nathans-Kelly, a video producer at Streaming Media Magazine, is carving conference videos into short useful segments. Here are the first two videos on building your encoding ladder from my talk on how to use objective quality metrics you can watch in its entirety here, as well as download the handout. The first video covers the bitrate side, the second …

Every compressed file involves dozens of configuration-related decisions, including resolution, data rate, H.264 profile, VBR or CBR, entropy coding technique, x.264 preset, b-frames, reference frames—the list goes on and on. Most encoding prof

Publishers and encoding companies alike are beginning to embrace VP9, Google’s open source codec. Here’s how it stacks up on quality and data rates. The value proposition for VP9 is clear, as stated in Figure 1: “Adaptive HD streaming with 1/2 the data of H.264!” Half the data rate cuts your bandwidth and storage costs and allows you to reach …

Online is different from broadcast and doesn’t need formal standards. HEVC isn’t considered by many online video streamers, as the future belongs to VP9 and AV1. Elsewhere in the issue, you find a 4,000-word article I wrote on VP9 that doesn’t mention HEVC. Why? Because for the vast majority of streaming producers that don’t distribute 4K video to smart TVs, …