Encoding

One of the more intriguing streaming-related numbers out there is the Netflix ISP Speed Index which topped out at a paltry 3.98 Mbps in the US during December 2017 (Figure 1). According to Netflix, “The Netflix ISP Speed Index lists the average prime-time bitrate for Netflix content streamed to Netflix members during a particular month. For ‘Prime Time’, we calculate the …

At its June 2017 Worldwide Developer’s Conference, Apple announced support for HEVC playback in HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) delivered to iOS, MacOS, and tvOS end points. For many, this announcement raised more questions than answers, which we hope to address in this article. By way of background, at Streaming Media West 2017, I co-produced a preconference session on encoding HEVC …

Whether you know it or not, many of the videos that you watch have been configured using video quality metrics. Oh, you disagree? Well, have you have watched Netflix recently? Over the last 2 years or so, Netflix’s encoding ladders have been driven by the company’s Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion (VMAF) metric and, before that, Peak Signal to Noise Ratio …

A short one. Before my trip to Stockholm last week, I sent a list of questions regarding AV1 to David Ronca, Director of Encoding Technologies at Netflix. As a company, Netflix has been very open and gracious about sharing their opinions and test results, both in their excellent blog posts and in many articles in many publications. Netflix’s scale and encoding …

Just back from ten days in Europe where I spoke at Streaming Tech Sweden and met with many streaming producers and encoding vendors. In particular, the vendors expressed dismay at the slow adoption of HEVC, particularly in view of Apple’s decision to include HEVC in HLS. Now that we’ve confirmed that battery life won’t be an issue, adding HEVC to HLS seems like …

I’ve been bullish on AV1 since the start, but I’m starting to think the codec is both farther away and less useful than I initially thought. Here’s what’s happening. For Streaming Media East in June 2017, an AV1 member encoded four videos, totaling about 8.5 minutes, to five data rates each for 720p, 1080p, and 4K, and the output quality …

Here’s the description: download handout below: Per-title encoding techniques customize the encoding ladder to match the encoding complexity of the source, saving bandwidth on easy-to-compress videos and ensuring the quality of more complex footage. This session compares the efficiency, implementation issues, and costs of multiple commercially available and open-source alternatives, like Capella Systems Cambria Encoder, compression optimization from multiple vendors, …

Here’s the video and description; download handout below. With the speed of technology today, one of the most important parts of the software is adaptability. By taking control of your own encoding and packaging, you can greatly reduce cost and maintain high adaptability and agility to meet your needs now and in the future. When working with cloud encoding, there …

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 …