Video Streaming Issues Often Due to Viewer Setup Problems: M-Go
There's an IT joke that user problems are often PEBCAK, meaning "problem exists between keyboard and chair." During a recent Streaming Media West session on using media optimization to improve streaming video performance, the panelists had to acknowledge that mistakes within the viewing household were often the main culprit for playback issues.
While optimizing files for streaming is an essential for premium video publishers, so is educating the customer, said Samir Ahmed, CTO for movie service M-Go.
"A lot of effort goes into optimizing the files—video optimization—but then it's also about working with our CDN partners. We have multiple CDNs. We have an intelligent selection of where the streams are coming from to really optimize the consumer's experience. There's a lot of work goes into that," Ahmed said. "A lot of work goes in also to our tech teams and customer care to educate the users about in-home setup of how they stream their device."
What can go wrong in the home? For one thing, viewers often don't understand that their wireless router should be centrally located.
"Some users call in and they don't really understand, and they have their access point that's 50 feet away, and they don't' understand why they're getting buffering events," Ahmed explained. "You have to walk them through it and educate them. Everything's wireless today. Everybody thinks it doesn't matter where you are. You have your TV 100 feet away from your access point and you want to stream ultra-HD and all of a sudden there's buffering."
For more on optimizing media, watch the full panel discussion below.
Using Media Optimization to Improve Streaming Performance
This session discusses the best practices to improve streaming video with faster stream starts and reduced buffering through the application of media optimization. Learn how optimization of encoded files at the network ingest point helps to reduce distribution and storage costs, network peering congestion, and improve user experience for mobile devices while increasing streaming performance across Wi-Fi networks. Hear how to apply media optimization to your video content to gain smoother streaming and cheaper delivery costs, all while maintaining a high- quality user experience.
Moderator: Mark Donnigan, Sr. Director Sales & Strategy - Beamr
Brad Collar, SVP - Warner Bros. Technical Operations (GDMX)
Tim Miller, Director, Back-end Engineering - Yahoo! Flickr
Samir Ahmed, CTO - M-GO
Glen Marzan, VP, Information Technology Production Services & Studio Operations - Sony Pictures Entertainment
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