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Encoding/Transcoding > Featured Articles

Encoding and transcoding video is at the heart of online video, and Streaming Media offers deep dives into encoding parameters, bitrate ladders, per-title encoding, content/context-aware encoding, CBR, VBR, and ABR. Here you’ll find the latest news, reviews, tests, and analysis to help you stay on the top of your encoding/transcoding game.

TIME TO VOTE! The Streaming Media Readers' Choice Award nominees are posted. Submit Your Vote Now!

Practical Approaches to Sustainable Streaming

In this article I'll expand on prior sustainability approaches, detail reasons to consider additional areas of power-consumption optimization, and invite diverse stakeholders across streaming workflows to engage with Streaming Media magazine, GoS, and like-minded stakeholders in a mid- to late-2023 initiative around the LESS Accord, with an overall goal of readers recommending measurable best practices for consideration by September 2023.

The State of VVC Adoption and Implementation

If you're a video publisher who doesn't rank high in the VVC patent list, it's likely that you won't consider VVC until 2026 or later. If you're looking to augment your H.264 encodes with a more efficient codec before then, your most likely choices are HEVC and AV1, with LCEVC also an option. However, if you're a product or service provider in the streaming media ecosystem, it's long past the time to start considering where and when VVC is going to fit in for you and your target customers.

Review: Magewell USB Fusion

The USB Fusion is a device that can be used in a production environment for local content feeds/sources. It can be used to input various sources such as HDMI devices, webcams, USB microphones, videos, images, screenshares, and other items. The USB Fusion is touted as a tool to make your online lectures and virtual events more engaging and to easily combine numerous sources into attractive live presentations for remote education, webinars, live streaming, and video conferencing.

Big Tech's Dirty Underbelly: Sharethrough's Frank Maguire Discusses Innovative New Approaches to Greener Streaming

Big Tech giants like Meta, Amazon, and Google have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. But how feasible is this goal, and where is the money spent towards it really going? Frank Maguire of Sharethrough discusses how Big Tech's digital ad deliveries contribute heavily to CO2 emissions and what these companies can do to lessen that impact and achieve their green commitments.

How to Script for FFmpeg Using PowerShell and BASH

FFmpeg was designed as a cross-platform solution for video and audio recording, conversion, and streaming using simple static command lines. Using variables and "for loops" in a command string simplifies the reuse of existing scripts and helps automate their operation. While you can't use these scripts in the Windows Command window, you can use Microsoft PowerShell in Windows and Bash on Linux and the Mac. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create and run such scripts with PowerShell and Bash.

How to Produce VVC With FFmpeg

Anytime you start working with a new codec, there are some fundamental tests that you should run to achieve optimal performance/quality optimization. In this article, I'll take you through those tests while encoding VVC using a version of FFmpeg that includes the Fraunhofer VVC codec.

The State of Live Streaming 2023

2022 was the year in which sports, the appointment-to-view genre with massive audiences and revenues, moved to the center of major streaming provider strategies.

The State of Video Codecs 2023

Welcome to your codec update for 2023. I'm here to help you decide whether it's time to go all in on AV1, VVC, LCEVC, or EVC or whether it's better to stick with H.264, VP9, and HEVC. Along the way, I'll include 2022-2023 updates to identify significant changes that have occurred since last year.

Review: Videon EdgeCaster EZ (w/ LiveEdge Core 8.5)

This review will highlight Videon's EdgeCaster video encoding appliance and explore its unique LiveEdge Compute technology for encoding and delivery, as well as how it works with popular video streaming platforms. I'll also discuss why many video production and remote production teams will likely move to a tool such as this in the future for streaming delivery.

Review: Netgear M4250 Network Switch

As streaming producers, we are already expected to provide expertise in video cameras, switchers, live streaming, audio, and wrapping cables using the over-under method. How are we now going to master the advanced network management requirements of NDI? Start with the Netgear M4250 AV line of switches.

The 2022 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards

The readers have spoken! Here are the top technical solutions of 2022, as determined by none other than the readers of Streaming Media.

Review: Moscow State University Video Quality Measurement Tool 14.1

Unlimited file analysis and Python interface highlight the new features

Google Chrome Plays HEVC: What Does it Mean?

In late September, Google quietly let slip the news that it now offers playback support for HEVC in Chrome when it's already available in the underlying platform. This is bigger news than Google is letting on, but its immediate impact remains to be seen. We surveyed a number of experts and analysts to gauge its meaning for increased HEVC usage and more, and how it affects DRM and HDR.

The 2022 Streaming Media 50: The 50 Tech Companies That Matter Most in Online Video

Welcome to the 2022 Streaming Media 50, our annual list that foregrounds the industry's most innovative and influential technology suppliers, service providers, and platforms, as acclaimed by our editorial team. Some are large and established industry standard-bearers, while others are comparably small and relatively new arrivals that are just beginning to make a splash. All set themselves apart from the crowd with their innovative approach and their commitment to serve the customer and advance the industry. It's the fifth year we've capped the list at 50 companies.

Q&A: Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise

The new Brightcove CEO talks about helping enterprises act like media companies.

Review: Telestream Wirecast Gear 3

The newly released Wirecast Gear 3 combines a change from Intel to AMD CPUs and a rearchitected software engine that Telestream claims "uses up to 60% less computer resources than previous versions." In this review, I tested the new version of hardware and software to its limits and came away very impressed.

Netflix's Andrey Norkin Talks Future of AV1

Streaming Learning Center's Jan Ozer interviews Netflix Senior Research Scientist - Video Algorithms and Alliance for Open Media co-chair Andrey Norkin about several topics around the future of AV1, including the necessity of HDR for premium content producers, Libaom's focus on SVT-AV1, and more.

The 2022 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards Finalists

More than 1,600 readers voted in 22 categories. We'll announce the winners at Streaming Media West in Huntington Beach on November 16, but here's a tease—the top three vote-getters in each category. And you just might be surprised at the names you see.

AOMedia Delivers on SVT-AV1's Promise

With the recent launch of version 1.0, SVT-AV1 appears to have caught up with libaom in quality, with very definite performance advantages. Its two-pass rate control is tested and proven. If you're creating an AV1 encoding workflow today that emphasises encoding speed and quality, SVT-AV1 should definitely be on your short list.

YoloLiv YoloBox Mini

In this review, I am going to be taking a look at YoloLiv's latest little streaming box, the YoloBox Mini