Zhi Li, senior software engineer at Netflix, recently co-wrote a paper entitled VMAF: The Journey Continues posted on the Netflix Technology Blog on Medium. After reviewing why VMAF was developed, how it’s been adopted in the industry, and some recent improvements, the paper discusses some best practices for using VMAF. In particular, this last section will be valuable to anyone who uses this …

I have a confession to make. Though I’ve attended dozens of Streaming Media conferences, I’ve never attended a kickoff session. Not, of course, because the content wasn’t information and insightful, but because I’m always scurrying about trying to finish my own presentations. This dubious accomplishment ends at Streaming Media West next month, when Roger Pantos, the inventor of HTTP Live …

As we transition from H.264 to VP9, HEVC, AV1, and soon VVC (Versatile Video Coding), it’s important to understand the fundamentals of codec comparisons and how to evaluate their effectiveness and utility. In this expanded column I’ll cover both. Evaluating the Evaluation Let’s begin with how to evaluate the evaluation. I start by identifying the evaluator and its affiliations, giving …