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 …
Read More »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. …
Read More »Review: Capella Systems Cambria FTC Offers Per-Title Encoding
The benefits of per-title optimization aren’t just for the major players, anymore. Streaming Media reviews the first solution for smaller content owners and finds the results promising. Netflix announced the beginning of the end for fixed encoding ladders with a December 2015 blog post called, “Per-Title Encode Optimization”. The big question was, what would replace them? For companies with the …
Read More »Review: EasyLive’s Video-Mixer-in-the-Cloud Simplifies Operations
By creating a video mixer that’s accessible from any location, EasyLive promises no-fuss live streaming to multiple platforms. Here’s how it performed in our testing. The simplest way to understand the EasyLive service is to think of it as a video mixer in the cloud. You can input videos from multiple sources; add titles, logos, Twitter feeds, and scorecards; and …
Read More »Bitrate Control and QoE-CBR is Better
Summary (The MPD) When distributing video under constrained conditions, the bitrate control technique used to encode the files can have a profound impact on the quality of experience (QoE). Specifically, under some conditions, CBR-encoded files deliver a superior QoE to files encoded using 200% constrained VBR, while also reducing the overall bandwidth delivered. For producers concerned with the potential for …
Read More »First Look: Microsoft Stream Preview Version
Microsoft’s new enterprise YouTube isn’t ready for prime time yet, but it offers several impressive features making it one to watch over the next 12 to 18 months. Reviewing the preview version of Microsoft Stream is like watching video clips on ESPN to assess whether Lebron James Jr. is ready for pro ball. At age 11, “Bronny” has obvious game …
Read More »NDI and Live Titling
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 …
Read More »What Is DRM?
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 …
Read More »How to Use Objective Quality Measurement Tools
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
Read More »VP9 Finally Comes of Age, But Is it Right for Everyone?
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 …
Read More »