Encoding

FFmpeg turns 5.0; the new release has big API changes but doesn’t appear to break existing command scripts, though x265-based encodes are worth checking. As much as we like major releases of programs that we know and love, one big question is always whether it changes how we use the program. If you haven’t heard, on January 17, 2022, FFmpeg …

A recent tutorial posted on Streaming Media Magazine details how to use AWS Elemental’s Auto-ABR feature. Here’s the scintillating intro. Per-title encoding has been around since 2016, delivering significant bandwidth savings, QoE improvements, or both to companies that deploy it (click here for a backgrounder on per-title encoding). Those benefits notwithstanding, a recent Bitmovin survey revealed that only 35% of …

This video discusses how to choose the best cloud-based per-title provider. This was a talk I gave to the Streaming Video Alliance in late November 2021. The 23-minute presentation covers the following agenda with extensive examples. You’ll find the talk useful if you’re comparing per=title encoding features, particularly cloud-based, but also third-party options you can buy/lease and install and run …

Companies attempting to formulate the ideal encoding ladder for specific videos or classes of content should incorporate both the harmonic mean VMAF score for overall quality and the percentile score to minimize transient quality issues.   I’ve spent much of the last few weeks benchmarking H.264 and HEVC cloud-based per-title encoding capabilities like those available from AWS Elemental, Microsoft Azure, Brightcove, …

This post presents a return on investment view of choosing an x265 preset that delivers the optimal blend of encoding cost and storage and bandwidth savings. The first chart, x265 Encoding Time/Quality Tradeoff, is from a lesson in my course Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming Media Professionals.  Given the bandwidth and storage savings that higher-quality x265 presets deliver, …

This entry-level article describes what an encoder is and how to choose one and focuses on VOD, not live. It was derived from a lesson in my Streaming Media 101 course, which teaches you the skills and techniques to succeed in a streaming media-related role. Click here for more details about the course. This article walks newbies through what an …

Your encoding ladder should include lower resolution rungs even if higher resolution rungs deliver better quality. This blog explains why.  Several lessons in the online course Streaming Media 101: Technical Onboarding for Streaming Media Professionals focus on creating and configuring encoding ladders, including the Convex Hull technique discussed below. With advanced codecs like AV1 and HEVC, however, this analysis leads …

Note: I received some very useful responses to this blog that are summarized in a post entitled, Choosing the Resolution for Lower Rungs on Your Encoding Ladder.  I could use some input from practitioners out there about which lower resolution rungs are essential to an encoding ladder. By way of background, I’m preparing a per-title encoding comparison. To derive the …

I’ve been a fan of video optimization technologies for a while now, and consider optimization simpler, cheaper, and potentially just as effective as adding a new codec like HEVC or VP9. I’m pleased to see that the Crunch Mediaworks Video Enhancement Solutions App is now available on the Oracle Cloud Marketplace. I reviewed Crunch‘s technology back in 2019 for video …

This whitepaper, sponsored by Dolby/Hybrik, tracks cloud encoding pricing for H.264 and HEVC output and reveals dramatic price differences among popular services. I’ve just completed a whitepaper sponsored by Dolby/Hybrik to compare pricing for multiples of one hour of H.264 and HEVC encoding using the recommended encoding ladders in the Apple HLS Authoring Specifications. You can download the whitepaper here. …