MediaMelon, Inc. - View From The Top 2017
On Streaming better than Broadcast
Advances in streaming quality improvements and optimization continue to be an important trend as evidenced by the various announcements at IBC. As streaming replaces broadcast as the default video consumption medium, it becomes important for streaming services to strive to offer premium quality, across various devices and networks, while maintaining their margins.
Given that there are so many network links – ISPs, CDNs, last-mile and in-home Wi-Fi - between the video streaming source and the video playback device, the ability to deliver a reliable and consistent streaming video quality and experience, continues to be a challenge, because no single entity controls and manages these networks on an end-to-end basis.
The typical methods to address these challenges relate to compression or encoding. Compression can reduce the data payload while minimizing quality loss, and encoding improvements, such as varying the encoding ladder on a per-scene basis can mirror a VBR or Capped VBR like effect. Both these methods require additional processing in the workflow, and while they can reduce streaming data, they likely can’t improve streaming quality or performance.
MediaMelon QBR offers an alternate approach, that works with existing encoders, streaming formats, players, and CDNs. QBR rapidly characterizes the visual quality of encoded streams and helps a player or packager make real-time decisions to optimize each and every streaming session at every segment and scene. By modulating the adaptation, on the basis of the video structure, QBR optimizes streaming (as opposed to encoding) and improves streaming quality while at the same time, reduces bandwidth consumption.
MediaMelon SmartSight is an advanced streaming playback performance analytics platform that tracks the playback experience from the perspective of an end user, based on data from a light-weight plugin on players. Based on innovative backend- and data processing architecture, SmartSight allows rapid analysis of large datasets, both in near real-time and historical basis. The platform can provide analysis of macro trends, can zoom in on specific sessions, and generate AI-driven alerts on streaming problems and monetization opportunities.
MediaMelon QBR and SmartSight can help a growing streaming video service operate at a level better than broadcast.
-Kumar Subramanian - MediaMelon, Inc.
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