Encoding

Many producers distribute the same encoding ladder to all viewers. However, sending a 1080p stream to smartphone viewers may be a waste of bandwidth as both SSIMPLUS and VMAF scores reveal that lower resolution, lower-bandwidth videos deliver similar quality at a lower cost. This tutorial, from my course Computing and Using Video Quality Metrics, shows you the tests I performed …

On August 12, 2019, I reported in Streaming Media Magazine that the hugely unpopular MPEG LA DASH Pool might be shutting down. I shared what was purported to be a draft letter from MPEG LA President Larry Horn to pool members which stated the following: “Regrettably, with more than one year’s experience marketing the DASH License according to its revised …

Announcing a new online course entitled, Computing and Using Video Quality Metrics: A Course for Encoding Professionals. The course contains over four hours of video instruction and costs $99.95. The course teaches you how to choose, compute, and interpret video quality metrics like VMAF, SSIMPLUS, PSNR, and SSIM. Here are some of the key items you will learn. The pros and …

One of the first operations I learned in FFmpeg was how to scale subsampled video files back to the source resolution to compute PSNR in the Moscow State University (MSU) Video Quality Measurement Tool (VQMT). Thankfully, for those not familiar with FFmpeg, as of VQMT version 11.1, this operation is no longer necessary. Yup, VQMT can now autoscale your lower-resolution …

This article details how the FFmpeg threads command impacts performance, overall quality, and transient quality for live and VOD encoding. The level of testing and analysis detailed here is consistent with the instruction in my book, Learn to Produce Videos with FFmpeg In 30 Minutes or Less ($34.95), and my course, FFmpeg for Adaptive Bitrate Production ($29.95)  (which includes a …

This article has been superseded by this article entitled, An FFmpeg Script to Render and Package a Complete HLS Presentation. So there I was, teaching a class at Streaming Media East entitled How To Build A Free Encoder/Packager With Watch Folder Operation Using Open Source Tools (handout and video available here). An attendee asked about creating an HLS manifest with …

This article discusses the evolution of the encoding ladder from the fixed ladder presented by Apple in Tech Note TN2224 to context-aware-encoding, which creates a ladder that not only considers the encoding complexity of the content, but also the producer’s QoE and QoS metrics. The encoding ladder embodies the most significant encoding decisions made by encoding professionals, and understanding this …

After three years or so in gestation, per-title encoding is becoming a required feature on most encoding platforms, whether in-house software or SaaS cloud providers. In this buyers’ guide, we’ll review a list of features to look for in per-title encoding offerings and present a testing structure to evaluate the contenders that make it to your short list. If you’re …

Dynamic Packaging is a technique that can save encoding and storage costs for video producers that distribute two or more ABR formats, like DASH, HLS, Smooth Streaming, or even RTMP. In this interview, Softvelum CEO Yury Udovichenko discusses how his flagship product, Nimble Streamer, can deploy Dynamic Packaging for VOD, Live, VOD Remote HTTP Origin, and DVR applications. The interview …

Here’s the link to download:  W4-key encoding skills Here’s the description. W4. Key Encoding Skills, Technologies, & Techniques Monday, May 6: 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. This session helps encoding professionals get up-to-speed on crucial encoding-related issues, technologies, and techniques. Topics include: Best high-level strategies for delivering to computers, mobile, smart TVs, and OTT (which ABR, codecs, and DRMs are supported …