Streaming Media White Paper 2008 - (Page 18) 18 Best Practices: HOW TO PROFIT FROM INTERNET TV Transcoding solutions from different vendors may use the same third-party codecs or may use codecs from different providers, even for the same formats. For example, two vendors may both use Microsoft-provided codecs for VC-1 encoding but differ in their chosen H.264 implementation. Even within a single solution, multiple implementations may be available. For example, within StreamZ, StreamZHD, and our Digital Rapids Transcode Manager solutions, we offer multiple choices of H.264 implementation, each optimized for particular applications or target devices. As you would assume, the output quality of different implementations of the same format can vary, which can be a key differentiator between competing transcoding systems. Even more importantly, for those looking beyond just PC-based viewing, quality may not be the only difference; the compliance of the output for strict devices such as set-top boxes can also vary significantly between implementations of the same format. It’s important to realize, however, that even if two transcoding systems use the same third-party components, the output can still differ significantly in quality. Continuing the previous example,the quality of the VC-1 output from two transcoding solutions can be visibly different even if they both use the Microsoft-provided code, as there’s more to creating great quality than just the compression algorithms. The quality of any plug-ins or hardware- or software-based features used to process the video prior to compression—such as de-interlacing, graphic overlay, and inverse telecine—can also have a huge effect on the quality of the output. While the transcoding offerings from many vendors have similar lists of processes that can be applied to video, the quality of the results can vary considerably between them. For media organizations transcoding high volumes of files, scalability is also a key consideration, both immediately and in the future. While multi-node transcoding systems that distribute jobs in a simple “next job to next available node” paradigm are adequate when all of the nodes are based on identical processing technologies, such a methodology may be inefficient as additional nodes are added in the future to support growth. Newer host systems will often feature improved processor capabilities (faster speeds, more cores, tailored instruction sets, etc.), and the degree to which these new capabilities deliver performance benefits will vary between codecs and formats, resulting in certain host systems being better for specific types of transcoding jobs than others.To address this, Digital Rapids Transcode Manager supports intelligent load balancing,constantly tracking the performance of each node for each type of transcode, learning which systems are best for each type of task, and distributing jobs for maximum overall throughput. The greater the number of nodes added later,the greater the potential benefit that such intelligent scalability can deliver. to your customers’ viewing experience. Combining this automated failure recovery with alert notifications,consolidated confidence monitoring (the ability to see the streams from all encoders in one window), and automated scheduling enables large-scale installations with multiple streaming encoders to be run with limited staff,reducing operational costs. Beyond Interoperability: Efficient Integration While best-of-breed products for encoding, transcoding, and streaming each bring their own set of benefits, effective and profitable internet TV publishing requires them to fit seamlessly together into complete workflows. These elements must also be combined with other business and operational systems,such as digital rights management and billing. Today’s top-tier media organizations are looking for more than just interoperability between vendors’ solutions through file compatibility or standard data exchange formats.While such standards have grown to be very robust, any interoperability limited to any form of file exchange—whether media, metadata, operational instructions, or more— essentially amounts to a lowest-commondenominator approach.Instead,users now want to delve right into the heart of the solutions they’ve chosen and integrate them together at their core into the most efficient workflows possible for users’ unique needs. Rather than simply passing the output of one software application to the input of another, the most effective systems are those in which the applications are truly integrated into a customized workflow that satisfies the unique business and operational requirements. Furthermore, in many cases, these users aren’t seeking a complete all-encompassing solution, as they have already implemented some pieces of the puzzle through previous projects. Many organizations have established solutions—third-party or designed in-house— for billing, asset, and rights management and other business and operational support systems. While these systems may have been designed for earlier media initiatives, a welldesigned system should still be sufficiently relevant and extensible to encompass new internet TV opportunities. With substantial investments in money, time, and a large wealth of accumulated data,customers aren’t inclined Live Streaming: No Second Chances The above considerations of multiple simultaneous format support, output stream compliance, and high visual quality also apply to live streaming encoders, but live streaming applications bring with them additional demands, particularly in reliability. Service interruptions to offline encoders can cause costly delays but rarely are visible to target audiences. In a live scenario, every issue is immediately visible, and any interruptions are likely to cause viewer loss.A consistent,reliable viewing experience is an essential factor in maintaining a loyal, engaged audience. Historically, the viewers of new distribution channels such as internet TV streaming haven’t had the same “five-9s” (99.999%) reliability expectations that viewers have of conventional broadcast delivery, but audience expectations are increasing.While our StreamZ, StreamZHD, and StreamZ Live products are designed to deliver exceptional reliability for live streaming applications,combining them with management software into a complete streaming system can further ensure uninterrupted experiences for your audiences. Our scalable Digital Rapids Broadcast Manager software is designed to bring to the live internet TV world the powerful and centralized monitoring, automation, and reliability tools that broadcasters of traditional television have long depended on. Broadcast Manager delivers enterprise-level management, remote control, scheduling, monitoring, and fault tolerance. A streaming system’s ability to detect failures as severe as an encoder completely losing power and automatically transfer operation to a back-up encoder provides immeasurable benefits.It enables faster recovery times than any manual process could provide, minimizing the interruption
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