Twitch’s Dual-Layout Streaming: Technical Innovation or Industry Revolution?

As video producers, we all agree on one thing: we want to serve content in whatever format the viewer prefers. Until now, for live streaming in landscape or portrait, it's been a one-or-the-other proposition. That's changing. At TwitchCon Europe, amid the usual fanfare and cosplay, Twitch quietly announced a feature that could reshape the future of live streaming: dual-layout live streaming.

The Pros and Cons of Software Decoding for Publishers and Viewers

This article examines recent data on efficiency and power usage for hardware and software decoding and explores how this data shapes the value proposition for publishers opting for software decoding and viewers that wittingly, or unwittingly, watch services that deploy it. It concludes with two short surveys for publishers and consumers that ask for your perspective on and experience with software decoding. Be sure to take the surveys!

NAB 2025: Narayanan Rajan Talks Reintroducing Media Excel, Hero Platform Differentiation, and AI-Powered Encoding

In this interview with Streaming Media contributing editor Jan Ozer, Narayanan "Raj" Rajan, CEO of Media Excel, reflects on his first year at the helm of one of the most established names in the encoding industry. Rajan discusses how Media Excel is reasserting its relevance with the Hero platform—an encoder/transcoder/packager suite—and why live streaming, low latency, and AI-optimized encoding remain at the heart of the company's strategy.

Meta's David Ronca Talks Benchmarking and Deploying AV1 in the Android Ecosystem

The arc of AV1 codec adoption at large-scale content owners has been long and complex, as Meta Senior Media Software Engineer David Ronca (who also spent 12 years developing encoding solutions at Netflix) knows as well as anyone. In this interview with Jan Ozer of Streaming Media and Streaming Learning Center, Ronca discusses the integration of AV1 into the Android ecosystem, focusing on the challenges and solutions for mobile devices. 

Sustainability Slips Down Industry’s Agenda Says Bitmovin Video Developer Report

The latest Video Developer Report compiled by Bitmovin shows sustainability slipping down the list of priorities, a casualty of the search for short term profit. The report made clear the industry's top priority is monetizing content more effectively with ad tech, which can be attributed to the huge spike in AVOD and FAST business models.

Telestream CTO Simon Clarke Talks AI, Cloud, and Wirecast and Vantage Trajectories

In a recent interview, Simon Clarke, Chief Technology Officer of Telestream, discussed two key products, Wirecast and Vantage. Celebrating Wirecast's 20th anniversary, Clarke reflected on its evolution from a nascent streaming tool to a robust application used by a diverse range of streaming producers, including educators, business professionals, and houses of worship.

Media Excel Gains Visibility with AI Reality Check and Innovation

Artificial Intelligence has become a buzzword in streaming video with the promise of revolutionizing how we create, compress, and distribute videos. It's crucial to separate the hype from reality and rare to find a vendor willing to do so. Media Excel CEO Narayanan Rajan is one.

Is Live Streaming Stagnating? Give Us Your Feedback!

A new survey takes a critical look at the live-streaming ecosystem

Will Amazon and Dolby's Latest Acquisitions Accelerate VVC Deployment?

Recent moves by Amazon and Dolby may hint at a growing interest in VVC (Versatile Video Coding).

Interview: IP Attorney Robert J.L. Moore Discusses Video Codec IP and Patent Monetization Issues

In this wide-ranging interview, Streaming Media's Jan Ozer and intellectual property attorney Robert Moore of Moore IP solutions delve into a number of topics related to video codec intellectual property issues and patent monetization, two constantly moving targets.

Introduction: Foundations of AI-Based Codec Development

To promote the understanding of AI codec development, Deep Render's CTO and Co-founder, Arsalan Zafar, has launched an educational resource titled "Foundations of AI-Based Codec Development: An Introductory Course." In a recent interview with Streaming Media Magazine, Zafar provided insights into the course's content, target audience, and expected outcomes.

’Round the Horn at NAB 2024: Videon, Telestream, Phenix, Ateme, V-Nova, Twelve Labs, Norsk, Dolby, and NETINT

Any NAB report is like the story of the blind man and the elephant: what you experience is what you touch, representing a fraction of the whole and perhaps not even a good sample. That being said, here's what I touched during the show. Many of these experiences are accompanied by video that I shot of the interviews.

What Your Codec Will Cost You: Robert J.L. Moore Talks Avanci Video Codec Patent Pool Launch

What is the new Avanci Video codec patent pool, who is involved with it, what codecs does it cover, and what does it mean for OTTs and other streaming content companies in terms of paying for codec usage going forward? Should the streaming industry be bracing for a sea change when it comes to codec royalties? In this interview with Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer and Robert J L Moore, IP attorney, they discuss these implications and more based on what we know so far.

Via LA's Heath Hoglund Talks MPEG LA/Via Licensing Patent Pool Merger

Following on the news that Via Licensing has acquired codec patent pool administrators MPEG LA to form Via LA as a "unified entity," Via LA President Heath Hoglund discusses how the pool will operate, as well as resulting synergies including streamlined IP distribution and economies of scale in this interview with Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer.

Jan Ozer Talks "VVC: Ready for Action?" Workshop Coming Up at Streaming Media East 2023

One of the premier pre-conference events at the upcoming Streaming Media East conference explores the readiness of the Versatile Video Codec (VVC) for deployment and implementation. Presented on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Boston's Westin Copley Place, the session includes multiple speakers, many from companies already shipping VVC-related products or services. 

NAB 2023: AJA's Bryce Button Talks OpenGear Dante Integration and Bridge Live

AJA Director of Product Marketing Bryce Button and Streaming Media's Shawn Lam discuss the integration of AJA's OpenGear cards with Dante Audinate and the Dante A/V network and other news from AJA in this interview from NAB 2023.

AMD Launches First 5nm ASIC-based Media Accelerator Card to Power New Era of Interactive Media Services at Scale

Purpose-built video processing architecture featuring an AV1 accelerated pipeline delivers 32x 1080p streams per card with AI-enabled video quality optimization

AV1 Hardware Solutions at IBC

Aims to lower overhead, raise performance, diminish power for open-source codec

H.264 Usage Drops for First Time in Bitmovin Video Developer Report

HEVC and AV1 usage are on the rise, while H.264 is beginning to fade, according to Bitmovin's annual survey of video developers and engineers. That's not the only surprise in the report.

Take the Autumn 2021 State of Streaming Survey

Share your professional and personal insights and enter to win an iPad or Osprey Talon 4K-SC hardware encoder