Encoding

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Handouts from Streaming Media West

Streaming Media West was a high-energy conference with a great vibe and the usual elegance of the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa. I gave two talks; a 3-hour preconference session entitled Advanced Codec Implementation & Production and a 45-minute session on Encoding AV1 with Open Source Alternatives. Below are the descriptions and links to the presentation downloads. W1. …

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NETINT Quadra vs. NVIDIA T4 – Benchmarking Hardware Encoding Performance

NETINT Quadra vs. NVIDIA T4 – Benchmarking Hardware Encoding Performance

This article is the second in a series about benchmarking hardware encoding performance. In the first article, available here, I delineated a procedure for testing hardware encoders. Specifically, I recommended this three-step procedure: Identify the most critical quality and throughput-related options for the encoder. Test across a range of configurations from high quality/low throughput to low quality/high throughput to identify …

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Choosing a Preset for SVT-AV1 and libaom-AV1

This article shows the quality/encoding time tradeoffs for producers choosing a preset for SVT-AV1 and libaom-AV1. Note to readers – 12/13 – AOM has released version 1.4, which fixed the SVT-AV1 preset issues reported in the first version of this article.  Presets are the most important configuration option for controlling quality and throughput for most codecs. For this reason, when …

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How to Compare Hardware Transcoders

How to Compare Hardware Transcoders

This article details a methodology for comparing hardware transcoders considering cost/stream, watt/stream, and output quality. If you’ve ever benchmarked software codecs, you know the quality/throughput tradeoff; simply stated, the higher the quality, the lower the throughput. In contrast, for many first-generation hardware encoders, throughput was prioritized, but the quality was fixed; you got what you got. Finding the Key Quality …

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Dense is good when it comes to transcoding

Dense is good when it comes to transcoding

Back in high school, if someone called you dense, it meant you were slow on the uptake, and it definitely wasn’t a compliment. For high-volume video transcoding, however, density is, without question, a major plus.   Some background. I now work with NETINT, a Canadian company that designs, develops, and sells ASIC-powered transcoders like the T408 and T432, which can output H.264 and …

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ASIC-Based 8K Encoding can Save Power and Money

ASIC-Based 8K Encoding can Save Power and Money

Back before “politically correct” was a phrase or even a concept, it wasn’t unusual to hear someone say, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Speaking totally metaphorically, of course, and with apologies in advance to dour cat lovers without a sense of humor, that still is the case. Here we look at two ways to produce an …

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Choosing a Live Transcoder

Four days on the show floor at IBC solidified the concept that your choice of the live encoder is dictated by your encoding application. In this article, I’ll review the types of encoders and the trade-offs associated with each type and will identify the type of encoder that works best for a few selected encoding applications. Types of Live Transcoders …

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Google Chrome plays HEVC: What Does it Mean?

When I first heard that Google Chrome played HEVC, I checked the weather in Hades to determine if it had, in fact, frozen over. Reports were inconclusive. Then I started reaching out to colleagues and contacts whose opinions I value to get their reactions and thoughts. Many spoke on the record, and many didn’t. In this article, I’ll attempt to …

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SLC Updates AV1 Encoding Course

The course Encoding with the AV1 Codec has been updated with new instructions for SVT-AV1 1.0 and FFmpeg/libaom-AV1.  AV1 is a powerful codec but to optimize quality and performance, you have to choose the optimal preset and thread count and then navigate through obscure commands like auto-alt-ref, row-mt, tile columns/tile rows, and lag-in-frames. The course, Encoding with the AV1 Codec, provides …

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SLC Releases Cloud-Based HEVC and H.264 Per-Title Quality and OPEX Reports

Choosing the wrong per-title encoding service can boost streaming costs by up to 64% and storage costs by 76%. It can also reduce the average video quality delivered to your viewers by up to 9.28 VMAF points. These reports identify the OPEX and quality leaders and save months of testing.  Overview: Per-Title encoding is the most efficient and effective technology …

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