Blogs

Considering a cloud encoder? My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Cloud Encoders, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the scintillating intro which tells what’s covered in the article.  There are many instances where cloud encoding is both efficient and cost-effective. For example, if you’re working with files already saved to the cloud — perhaps …

Producing a live event in the near term and need to choose an encoder? My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Live Encoders, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the brief intro which details what’s covered in the article.  All live events start with an encoded stream produced by a live streaming encoder. In this …

My article, A Buyer’s Guide to Live Streaming Services, from the fabulous 2014 Streaming Media Sourcebook, is up on the Streaming Media webiste. Here’s the intro, designed to grab you by the throat (metaphorically, of course) and force you to read the balance. Well, if you’re interested in live streaming, you might find it worth a read.  So, you’ve decided to …

I received this email the other day from the Division Manager of Web Based Services for a large southern city. He said: While doing research, I found your “Choosing a Live Streaming Encoder” presentation on YouTube. I found it very informative and took many good notes. We will most likely end up going with a Dell server running Windows Server …

My review of the new Livestream Studio HD51, is up on the Streaming Media Producer website. If you’re looking for a turnkey switcher encoder with HDMI and SDI input, it’s a great option. Here’s the intro to tell you what’s covered.  Livestream Studio HD51 is the latest in a line of production switchers from Livestream. Two aspects of the product …

This is one of 42 lessons from my course Video Compression for Web, Disc and PC/TV/Console Playback, on Udemy (bit.ly/Ozer_u). It’s one of the most important lessons, covering bits/pixel, which is a critical concept in streaming. As an informational lesson, this is mostly PowerPoint with audio. Most other lessons include screencam demos of the software or Internet functions being demonstrated.  …

Read an interesting article in CoreAnalysis, a Canadian blog run by Patrick Lopez, who reports that YouTube has been experimenting with multiple technologies to reduce mobile wait time, and is now deploying a DASH-based technology they call Sliced Bread. Here’s the technology description. YouTube Sliced Bread essentially compares the DASH ABR manifest with the speed and bandwidth that is available …

The first reviews of my new video compression course on Udemy are in, and they’re quite positive (of course, otherwise I wouldn’t be blogging about them).  Travis Roesler, owner of howtofightnow.com, a website that offers self defense courses, rated my Udemy course five stars, and commented: Jan REALLY helped me out. I can’t even begin to tell you how much …

Note: With the June 2014 release of iBooks Author, the procedures discussed here no longer work. Good luck with your iBooks Author encodes. Adding video to an iBook is simple; just drag the clip into your book in iBooks Author. But if iBooks Author “optimizes” the video you inserted, it’s encoding it again and potentially boosting the data rate far …

If you’re just getting into producing files for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) delivery, you may find my article on encoding for HLS useful. Here’s the introduction: HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) is a simple and elegant architecture created by Apple for delivering adaptive bit rate streams to iOS devices and compatible browsers, essentially Safari. Since its release, HLS has been incorporated …