In Broadcast - June 2021 - 56

56
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 11 - Issue 6 | June 2021
Choosing a Codec: Why Free is Not Always Free cont'd...
InMedia
Design flexibility
Using open source often does
not leave opportunity for unique
configurations, and let's be honest,
most video workflows need
some sort of customization. Lack
of customization can mean an
unoptimized workflow which in turn
may require workarounds, causing
scaling inflexibility and reliability
issues downstream.
Conversely, by considering
professionally designed codecs,
developers get access to specialized
video expertise to help choose the
right software for the need, rather
than force-fitting what is available
for free. Codec experts are especially
adept
at
offering
suggestions
to
meet today's needs while keeping
an eye towards the future, ensuring
minimal effort is needed to keep
up with industry advancements.
Ongoing maintenance and support
is also a valuable accoutrement with
commercial codecs and allows these
experts to further tune and optimize
codec libraries to ensure
video frameworks maintain
superior quality, performance and
reliability after implementation.
Support and security
With open source, direct support is
impersonal and haphazard, forcing
users into community forums and
other resources as their primary
means of problem solving. While this
isn't inherently bad, a business might
want to be at least a bit skeptical about
leaving their critical video operations
to a community-based platform, no
matter how well-intentioned that
community may be. Businesses
might also be wary of sharing
information about their technology
implementations
with
competitors
or even cybercriminals. Bottom line,
codecs are complex to build and
maintain. Relying on independent
contractors or volunteer-led forums
for support injects considerable risk
and cost into the equation.
Learn more about commercial
software codecs
While there are dozens of companies
that offer one type of software codec
or another, one has been leading
codec development for nearly three
decades. MainConcept has been at the
industry forefront, with companies like
Adobe, Avid, Wowza, MAGIX, iStream
Planet, Telestream and hundreds more
relying on their codec technology to
power their digital video workflows.
MainConcept has products and
support for a variety of needs, from
developers to end users. Their SDKs
are used in some of the most complex
workflows, while their applications
and plugins are ideal for those looking
for ready-to-use solutions. No matter
whether choosing an SDK, application
or plugin, all use the industry-leading
MainConcept technology at their core.
MainConcept offers complimentary,
no-obligation consultations as well as
free trials for all their products.
Learn more at:
https://www.mainconcept.com
Getting the low-down on low latency for OTT
F
or the broadcasting
Video streaming services are now seriously challenging digital terrestrial TV for live transmission
and while low latency technology has enabled this, Erik Otto, Chief Executive of Mediaproxy,
writes that compliance monitoring is even more necessary to ensure the best viewing experience.
LogPlayer
sector, a
striking and deeply significant
consequence of the lockdowns forced
on people by the Covid-19 pandemic
was the dramatic rise in viewing figures.
While terrestrial television benefited
from this increase, it also suffered from
a dramatic drop in advertising spend,
particularly during the early days of
the crisis. The big winners were the OTT
services, which supplied not only the
binge-worthy box sets people craved
but also live programming, posing
an even bigger threat to 'traditional'
broadcasters.
The technological driver that has
moved OTT from being strictly an
on-demand or catch-up platform,
and made streamers such as Amazon
Prime
the new contenders
in
live
broadcasting, is low latency encoding.
Latency - in strict defining terms, the
time delay between the cause and the
effect of a physical change in a system
under observation - was the major
con when the pros and cons of
digital video transmission were
being considered in the 1980s
and 90s. It was the factor that
blighted the early days of both
digital terrestrial TV (DTT),
online video streaming and
what would become OTT.
As we know, all technologies
develop and become more refined.
Low latency formats were developed,
providing lag-free
signals for DTT,
computer-based video streaming and
now OTT. There are many systems
to choose from, depending on the
application. The main formats include:
Microsoft Smooth Streaming (an IIS
Media Services extension that enables
adaptive streaming of media to
clients over HTTP); RTMP (Real-Time
Messaging
Protocol
for
Flash-based
applications); CMAF (Common Media
Application Format); the low latency
version of Apple HLS (HTTP Live
Streaming), which can deliver Dolby
by
latency video over the public
internet
optimizing
streaming performance across
unpredictable networks using
secure streams and easy
firewall traversal.
Atmos and Dolby Vision; and MPEGDASH
(dynamic adaptive streaming
over HTTP).
Mediaproxy already supported HLS,
MPEG-DASH and Smooth Streaming.
This year we added capability for
Zixi, a software-defined, low latency
live streaming platform designed to
produce a broadcast-quality service
over any IP network, protocol, cloud
provider or edge device, and SRT
(Secure Reliable Transport), an open
source video transport protocol
based on UDP (User Datagram
Protocol)
technology. SRT is
able
to deliver high-quality, secure, lowCompliance
and logging
have always been important
considerations for OTT
services. Viewers expect their catchup
experience to be the same as what
they would see on the scheduled
broadcast. This expectation has only
increased for live streaming of sport
and other major events. Mediaproxy's
LogServer has monitoring capability
able to check and analyze these
streams to ensure that the live output
is of the highest possible standard.
The viewers might not know - or even
care about - low latency technologies
but they would soon know something
was wrong if they didn't do their job
properly.

http://www.inbroadcast.com https://blog.mainconcept.com/the-true-cost-of-open-source-codecs https://www.mainconcept.com https://blog.mainconcept.com/the-true-cost-of-open-source-codecs https://blog.mainconcept.com/the-true-cost-of-open-source-codecs https://www.linkedin.com/company/mediaproxy-pty-ltd/?originalSubdomain=no https://www.linkedin.com/company/mediaproxy-pty-ltd/?originalSubdomain=no https://www.linkedin.com/company/mediaproxy-pty-ltd/?originalSubdomain=no

In Broadcast - June 2021

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