Jan Ozer

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I help streaming and video technology companies solve complex technical and market-facing problems in practical business terms. Engagements range from fixed-scope audits and codec strategy reviews to product testing and technical content that helps customers, prospects, and internal teams connect technical performance to business outcomes. I am a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine, writing about codecs and encoding tools. I have written multiple authoritative books on video encoding, including Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video (https://amzn.to/3kV6R1j) and Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg: In Thirty Minutes or Less (https://amzn.to/3ZJih7e). I have multiple courses relating to streaming media production, all available at https://bit.ly/slc_courses.

How to Produce High-Quality H.264 Video Files

H.264 is the only compression technology that plays on all computers, mobile devices, and OTT players. This makes producing high-quality H.264 files compatible with your target playback devices an essential skill. Helping you acquire and/ or polish t

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What Will the HEVC Royalty Structure Look Like?

No one knows at this point, but I did learn a thing or two at Streaming Media West. By way of background, most authorities agree that there will be royalties on encoders and decoders, just like H.264. However, I was thinking that there might be royalties on free Internet content encoded with HEVC, as well. Two authorities who knew more …

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Video Encoding for Producers

This presentation was for Streaming Media Producer Live. Here’s the description.  To maximize reach and revenue, online video producers need to deliver video that plays effectively on multiple computer and mobile platforms. To accomplish this, you need to know some fundamentals about the H.264 codec, as well as the playback requirements and limitations of all target platforms. You also need …

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Choosing an Enterprise Encoder

Here’s the description; click below to download the handout. This session discusses factors to consider when choosing on- demand enterprise video encoding systems from the likes of Digital Rapids, Elemental, Harmonic, Sorenson, and Telestream. Factors incorporated into the analysis include performance, output quality, quality control options, format support, expansion options, programmability, and other variables. If you’re considering buying an enterprise …

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Choosing a Cloud Encoder

Here’s the seminar description. The presentation video is below the description, and you can download the handout below the video. The session starts by describing what cloud encoding is and how it works for both live and on-demand applications. Then it details the types of applications that work well with cloud encoding, using mini-case studies of actual users. Next, it …

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Understanding the Significance of HEVC/H.265

Here’s the seminar description, and the video is immediately below. Click below the video to download the handout. The most recent video compression standard, HEVC/H.265, was placed into final draft for ratification earlier this year and is expected to become the video standard of choice during the next decade. As with each generation of video compression technology before it, H.265 …

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New VLC Player Release Incorporates HEVC and VC9 Playback

Last week, VideoLAN released VLC 2.1.1, which incorporates HEVC and VCP9 playback on many of the multiple platforms supported by the player, which includes Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, Solaris, Ubuntu, Mint, and multiple flavors of Linux.

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New VLC Player Release Incorporates HEVC Playback

The VLC Player is one of the few programs I have on virtually all computers in my office, because it’s free, it runs on Macs and Windows, and plays almost every format, including H.264 and now H.265. Which is great, because I’ve just started to experiment with HEVC and it’s great to have a player that supports it besides DivX. …

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Review: Onstream Media Webcasting Service

Onstream Media’s webcasting service provides a soup-to-nuts system for broadcasting PowerPoint slides and talking-head video to a computer-based or mobile audience, with interactive elements such as Q&A, polling, and surveys, with registrat

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Elemental Cloud: Streaming Media’s Comprehensive Hands-On Review

Let’s save us both a lot of time. If you’re looking for the cheapest cloud encoding service for low-volume production quantities, skip to the next article; Elemental Cloud isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you’re a high-vol

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