Video: Comparing AV1, VP9, HEVC, & H.264

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

Comparing AV1, VP9, HEVC and H.264 is quite a task, but Streaming Media’s Jan Ozer is here to take us through it. From MPEG royalties to VP9 browser compatibility, from the AV1 roadmap to HEVC-enabled HLS, this is a comprehensive look at real-world usage of the top four codecs.

This is a key topic because 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 codecs are alluring. Those considering a switch must evaluate at least three options: HEVC, VP9, and AV1.

In this session, codec specialist Jan Ozer evaluates the quality of these codecs and compares them to H.264. Learn how much bandwidth you can save with each, and how the newer codecs compare from quality and implementation perspectives.

Watch now!

Video: How the BBC Built a Massive Media Pipeline Using Microservices

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

The BBC iPlayer is the biggest audio and video-on-demand service in the UK. It receives 10 million video playback requests every day and the service publishes over 10,000 hours of media every week.

Moving iPlayer to the cloud has enabled the BBC to shorten the time-to-market of content from 10 hours to 15 minutes.

In this session, the BBC’s lead architect, Stephen Godwin, describes the approach behind creating iPlayer architecture, which uses Amazon SQS and Amazon SNS in several ways to improve elasticity, reliability, and maintainability. You see how BBC uses AWS messaging to choreograph the 200 microservices in the iPlayer pipeline, maintain data consistency as media traverses the pipeline, and refresh caches to ensure timely delivery of media to users.

This is a rare opportunity to see the internal workings and best practices of one of the largest on-demand content delivery systems operating today.
Watch now!

Video: What is Immersive Audio and Why is it so Cool?

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

With all manner of entertainment using the moniker “immersive”, what does this mean with regard to audio?

This webcast will describe what immersive audio is, why it is so cool, and what makes it vital to the industry. Brian Vessa from Sony Pictures Entertainment will take a deep dive into ST 2098-1, which defines immersive audio metadata and is the first document in the suite of SMPTE immersive audio standards.

Since the introduction of immersive audio to the cinema, SMPTE has been working to create standards to foster interoperability between the many variations of playback systems and the many variations in mixing tools. A number of standards documents have been created that address different aspects of the problem.

Find out more!

Video: Spectral Quality – Improving Colors to Improve Videos

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

Vimeo’s Vittorio Giovara discusses ways to improve viewer retention by improving videos paying attention to colour space and colour volume. This talk covers how and why High Dynamic Range (HDR) works, Wide Color Gamut (WCG), 10-bit vs 8-bit video and also discusses the importance of frame rate on viewer retention.

After all, 4K has gotten most of the headlines, but there are other ways to improve the quality of your streaming video that have even more visual impact. This talk explores video colorimetry, ranging from video quality concepts to the latest trends in the industry. Vimeo’s experience is used as a practical implementation example and showcases how new compression technologies are deployed for the benefit of creators and their audiences.

This isn’t just about pretty videos, Vittorio shows the economic benefits of producing a better product.

Watch now!