Blogs

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 …

I’m starting to get excited about the free Defining Your Encoding Ladder webinar today at 2:00 PM EST. In addition to a focus on reducing encoding and distribution costs (cut layers, cut ladders, cut bandwidth), I’ll be exploring three options for including HEVC in HLS presentations, and will be showing preliminary encoding ladders from MainConcept (hybrid HEVC/H.264), Bitmovin (HEVC only), …

Your encoding ladder controls the visual quality of all video that you deliver, but there are few absolutes. Ask five experts to design the optimal encoding ladder, and you’d get five different answers. That said, there are some tools and concepts you can use to identify where you may need to tweak our ladder, all providing a different lens to …

Download handouts from this session below. Here’s the description. 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 delivering live and VOD adaptive video to …

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve updated the Streaming Learning Center design to enable an improved learning experience. As part of this redesign, I’ll be holding more educational webinars. The first is a six-part webinar series entitled Rebuild Your Encoding Ladder. If you haven’t looked at your encoding ladder in awhile, you’ll find this course particularly useful as Apple has completely changed …

Below you can download a sample chapter of my new book, Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg in 30 Minutes or Less. It’s Chapter 12 Encoding HEVC, and I’m making it available for free for two reasons. First and most important, the HEVC-related content in my other book, Video Encoding by the Numbers, is flat out wrong. So if you have the Video …

  If you’re interested in learning about HDR production, check out three articles on the Streaming Media website. Blackest Blacks: Ten Things to Know About Producing HDR. The feature story details what HDR is and how to produce. Love the catchy teaser (which I didn’t write). “Shake your viewers all night long with the best-looking high dynamic range video imaginable. …