Viewed from a distance, most webcast providers look pretty similar; they all let you create a registration page, collect contact info for your registrants, and serve attendees a diet of PowerPoint and talking-head video, spiced with quizzes, surveys,

Enterprise YouTube platforms enable businesses to share videos with employees, partners, and other viewers; interested parties can then preserve and share the valuable institutional knowledge accumulated in these videos. Most systems function the way

I’m participating in a webinar with IneoQuest on Thursday, March 31 at 2:00 PM EST as part of their launch of a new product with live, non-referential quality metrics. The bottom line is that if you’re comparing real-time encoders to make a purchase decision, or configuring live encoders you already have, you can gauge the quality in real time, while …

This article explores the differences between constant bitrate encoding (CBR) and variable bitrate encoding (VBR) and recommends that producers still using CBR should switch to 110% constrained VBR to improve overall quality and avoid transient quali

015 was a tumultuous year for codecs. HEVC seemed like a sure thing in January, looked to be in trouble in July, but was happily resuscitated in December, albeit with some missing productive months from its useful life. Open source codecs began the y

Your encoding ladder is the set of encoding parameters that you use to create the various files that you deliver adaptively to your web viewers. These encoding parameters can live in your on-premise encoder, in your cloud encoder, or in your online video platform (OVP). When optimally configured, your encoding ladder lets you efficiently deliver great quality video to viewers …

Executive Summary: A common problem with footage created using iPhones, screencam tools, Wirecast, and Skype is a loss of A/V sync when importing the video into Premiere Pro. This video tutorial presents a simple fix using Handbrake. You can read a tutorial on the Streaming Media Producer Website here.  Overview and discussion: Many sources of video, like mobile phones, screencam …

Executive Summary: Now might be the time to consider phasing out the lowest quality streams in your encoding ladder to reduce encoding and storage costs. Check your server logs to determine consumption of these streams before doing so.  Overview and Discussion: All streams in your adaptive group cost money to encode, store, and administrate, even low-quality streams. A recent discussion …

Executive Summary: B-frames increase compression efficiency, particularly at lower bitrates. However, not all video encoders deliver the requested number of B-frames when encoding using default parameters. Telestream Switch is a software program that identifies B-frames in encoded streams, and computes the overall B-frame percentage. Compressionists seeking the most efficient streams should acquire Switch and test their streams. If B-frames are …

On Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016, Technicolor issued a press release stating that the company had decided to “license its HEVC IP portfolio directly to device manufacturers rather than through the HEVC Advance patent pool.” The release fu