Streaming
Video Production and Bandwidth Requirements
The final quality of
Streaming Video depends on a large extent on how well it is
encoded for the particular bandwidth at which it is to be
viewed. The usual method of encoding streaming video for
delivery over the Internet used to be at a minimum of 56K modem
speed - however, these days it is not as much of a problem
(especially in north America) since most home and business users
have high speed connections. To digitize a video to stream at
low speeds requires a high degree of compression to the video
and audio tracks, which eliminates portions of the data,
resulting in low display quality.
In
the past it was advisable to also prepare multiple sets of video
clips of higher and lower video and audio quality. When video is
encoded for higher speed connections, less compression is used
and a smaller amount data is lost. As a result, these high speed
video files are larger in size and require a faster connection
speed to streaming properly.
Users
connected to the Internet using a high speed cable modem or DSL
connections, can view any streaming video clip which has been
encoded for transmission at their encoded connection speed or
lower. However, a user who is connected to the Internet using an
old 56k modem who tries to watch a streaming video which has
been specifically digitized and encoded for high speed users,
for example, will get choppy video which plays for a second or
two and then freezes for several seconds until more video data
packets are streamed to their PC.
The
Quality Issue
Already more and more
users
are connecting to the Internet using high speed bandwidth
technologies like ISDN, DSL, dedicated T-1 access and cable
modems. The rapid growth of these high-speed connection
technologies has almost made 28.8 and 56K modem connections a
thing of the past. If you have a need for high resolution video
for stand-alone presentations on of your PC or Mac, we advise
digitizing your video as either AVI, QuickTime or MPEG formats
and play them off your hard drive for laptop presentations or
from disk (CD-ROM or DVD)
File
Sizes & Bandwidth
To gauge
the file storage space needed when you encode your videos,
here's a chart which details file sizes based on video that has
been encoded at different bandwidth speeds. Although these are
some of the more common alternatives, you can encode videos
using any bandwidth settings you specify.
Solving The Format
Conundrum
Should
your video be encoded as Real Video, Windows Media, Flash
or QuickTime? This can sometimes be a hard decision to make -
though not so much any more. Often times these decisions were
based on your personal preference, but these days, Flash Video (flv)
is the out and out winner due to its ubiquitous nature on the
Internet. Even though Real Video and Windows Media claim to have
over 200 million of their viewer plug-ins already in use, the
reality is that 98% of systems these days come pre-installed
with Flash Players in all the browsers. In the past, some video
producers used to solve their format dilemma by digitizing their
videos in multiple formats. This is now a thing of the past and
anyone using these techniques is obviously not up on the latest
advances in streaming and compression technologies.
Streaming Video Over Corporate
Intranets
Streaming video which is to be transmitted over a corporate
Intranet can be encoded at even higher speeds as long as you're
not already suffering from internal bandwidth constraints on
your network. As mentioned before, the higher the speed one
encodes at, the higher the audio and video quality.
Compare
with Care
The
single most important issue in encoding your video clips is how
good they'll look to the majority of visitors on your web site.
Different encoding companies used to use different hardware,
software and encoding processes, but these days, even though
various software are still used, the processes are becoming more
and more standardized and similar. Encoding streaming video for
balancing speed and quality is an art as much ast a science and
you need to be extremely careful when comparing quality. Make
sure that the quality you seek will be possible over the
transmission speeds your viewers will be using.
Always remember that whenever a video clip is encoded at a
higher bit rate per second, the quality improves dramatically
but this could result in a choppy playback if the viewer's
system cannot keep pace.
To
add streaming video to your web site, you can send us a request
to encode your DVD,
Mini-DV, Umatic, Beta, Hi-8, DVD, VHS or even S-VHS video clips
using our online form. We provide video encoding
services for customers all across North America and can be
reached toll free at 877-936-8377 or in Vancouver at
604-926-5805 - or e-mail us at info@mediastreams.ca
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