Blogs

Here’s the description; you can download the handout below. Apple’s support for HEVC in HLS is a ground-breaking event that opens up hundreds of millions of HEVC capable players. If supporting this spec is on your short-term development schedule, you’ll want to check out this workshop. The workshop starts by reviewing the new spec and sharing playback details, like how …

My first session at Streaming Media West. Here’s the description, you can 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 …

Streaming Media West is coming up on November 1-3 in Huntington Beach, CA, and there are tons of great sessions. I have a bunch of interesting sessions that I wanted to share here. I’ve posted full descriptions below, here are titles and a brief description. Pre-conference Sessions – Wednesday, November 1 I have two pre-conference sessions. 9:00 – 12:00 – …

Just a quick note to say how excited I am to be the keynote speaker at Streaming Tech Sweden in Stockholm on November 22, 1017. The day-long show, which is sponsored by Swedish consultancy Eyevinn Technology, will help technology managers, architects, developers, and product managers understand how to deploy key streaming technologies. Here’s a discussion with the conference organizers, Magnus Svensson …

HLS just got really complicated. On September 9, 2017, Apple updated their HLS authoring requirements to include HDR and 4K recommendations. The updated ladder is shown below. Here are some of the new/updated requirements for HEVC and HDR. There are more in the spec, but these are the ones I wanted to comment on. 1.6. Profile, Level, and Tier for HEVC MUST …

On September 12, the Healthcare Information Committee of SW Virginia held a Healthcare Information Forum. In our tiny region of Virginia, all insurers had pulled out of the ACA, and there were many, many concerned and upset people in attendance (Anthem has since returned to the ACA market). One particularly informative speaker was Dr. Christina Dalton, shown above, who is …

VMAF stands for Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion, but all you really need to know is that it’s the video quality metric co-invented by Netflix to replace the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) that used to fuel the company’s per-title encoding function. In the image above, which is courtesy of Netflix, you see how VMAF scores on the left more closely match …

Just a quick note about the Per-Title Encoding Webinar that I’m producing next Tuesday, August 29th, at 2:00 PM EST. In the webinar, after introducing the concept of per-title encoding, and discussing Netflix’s and YouTube’s technologies, I will compare three per-title approaches: – Capella Systems’ Source Adaptive Bitrate ladder, as implemented  in their Cambria FTC encoder, which you can read …

RealNetworks is one of the most storied names in video streaming-if you’re on the wrong side of 40. If you’re younger, than odds are you never heard of the company. On Wednesday, August 16, RealNetworks announced an agreement to deploy Advanced RealMedia HD (RMHD) Technology in China. What do we know about the codec? Here’s a blurb from the product …

Apple’s HLS Authoring Specifications for Apple Devices approves up to 200% constrained VBR but Apple’s actual encodes are more like 110-120% constrained. What Apple Says As you probably know, Apple recently made sweeping changes to their HLS recommendations, including changing from 110% constrained VBR for VOD in TN2224, to 200% constrained VBR in the HLS Authoring Specifications for Apple Devices …