A recent report published by Unisphere Research and Streaming Media magazine, and sponsored by Beamr, reveals some interesting data on HEVC adoption. Entitled Real-World HEVC Insights: Adoption, Implications, and Workflows, the report is available for free download on StreamingMedia.com (registration required) and is authored by my colleague Tim Siglin, a Streaming Media contributing editor and…
A recent article in IPWatchdog analyzed HEVC-related patent ownership and found that “only one-third of relevant patents have been declared in patent pools.” So, even companies that license from all three pools are at substantial risk of challenges from other IP owners. With a new standard coming, MPEG needs to update its licensing policies, not…
Much has been made about Google’s support for HEVC in Android, including I hate to say, by me. A recent look at the Android spec while preparing for a Streaming Media Workshop, however, seems to indicate that this support is practically irrelevant. Here’s why. If you click over to the Android Supported Media Formats page, you’ll see…
This was a pre-conference workshop; here’s the description, download the handout below. Note that there are two sets of handouts, one from Jan, the other from RealEyes. W3. Encoding Live & VOD For HEVC/HLS Monday, May 7: 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Apple’s support for HEVC in HLS is a groundbreaking event that opens up hundreds…
One of my sessions at Streaming Media East. Here’s the description; download the handout below. T102. HOW-TO: Comparing AV1, VP9, HEVC, & H.264 Tuesday, May 8: 11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Many content distributors and aggregators still use H.264 as their primary, if not exclusive, codec, but the bandwidth savings promised by newer, more powerful…
While at NAB, I produced a short video with Beamr CTO Dror Gil and Dirk Griffioen from Unified Streaming, which sells a variety of streaming-related software, including modules for ABR packaging. The primary topic was encoding and packaging with HEVC in HLS. Dror also gave a brief demo of Beamr’s new Transcoder product. During the talk, we covered…
With streaming video data rates, less is always more, unless of course, lower data rates mean visible artifacts. I just finished a review of the ZPEG Engine for x264, which produced bitrate savings of 21% without blocks, banding, mosquitoes, or other problems that would be noticeable by typical viewers. This was an average saving; the…
After three years and multiple delays, the Alliance for Open Media froze its AV1 codec bitstream, thus setting up a cacophony of HEVC/AV1 face-offs in booths and meeting rooms at the upcoming NAB Show. These comparisons will largely dictate which codec will replace H.264 as the “it” codec for streaming to desktops, mobile devices, Smart TVs,…
HEVC Advance announced today that it is eliminating subscription and title-by-title royalty fees for non-physical HEVC content distribution, making all streaming, cable, over-the-air broadcasts, and satellite distributions of encoded HEVC content royalty free. HEVC encoded content sold on Blu-ray discs and other storage devices will continue to be subject to a royalty. In a related…
We’ve known Beamr as an optimization company, and in 2016 they bought Vanguard Video, a codec company. Traditionally, Beamr sold SDKs to large customers, but now they’re launching a cloud transcoding service. I recently interviewed CTO Dror Gill about the new service; here’s the video.