| Adaptive Bitrate Streaming |
|
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming works by detecting a user's bandwidth and CPU capacity in real time and adjusting the quality of a video stream accordingly. The player client switches between streaming the different encodings depending on available resources. "The result: very little buffering, faster start times, and a good experience for both high-end and low-end connections because the user's network and playback conditions are automatically adapted to at any given time under changing conditions. Adaptive Bitrate Streaming allows us to stream in High Definition without worrying about excluding users with low bandwidth or machines that are not capable of playing HD video. These users will be delivered video in the best quality that their setup is able to handle. If a user watching video in High Definition experiences a reduction in bandwidth or their machine is struggling to play the content smoothly, the stream will seamlessly switch to a lower bitrate without any interruption to the viewer. For Live streaming with Adaptive Bitrates, your encoder simply provides 2 or 3 different bitrates to the CDN. The good news is that the free Adobe Live Media Encoder can do exactly that. So you can easily provide Live streaming with Adaptive Bitrates to both desktops and mobiles devices such as Android and Apple iOS powered iPhones and iPads. For On-Demand streaming with Adaptive Bitrates, there must be a separate copy of the video for each desired bitrate and/or screen-size. To best utilize the system, we suggest that you determine all of your target devices and requirements and then plan on encoding a version for each. For example, to get the broadest reach ranging from iPhones on 3G to HD quality for the desktop, you might encode your video files in up to 5 different screen sizes and bitrates:
Of course, we also can easily and automatcially encode your videos into the various formats needed for on-demand streaming with Adaptive Bitrates. |