Let me start this article by stating that the one program I couldn’t live without in my role as a video tester and evaluator is the Moscow State University Video Quality Measurement Tool (VQMT). It’s exceptionally functional and very easy to use for nuts and bolts testing and evaluation of different codecs, encoders, and encoding […]
FFmetrics – Free testing tool to measure video quality Read More »
The top rung of your encoding bitrate ladder is the most expensive to deliver, and in many regions, it’s also the most frequently viewed. Encode at too high a bit rate and you’re wasting money; encode too low and you’re potentially reducing viewer quality of experience. This makes choosing the top rung bitrate a key
Identifying the Top Rung of a Bitrate Ladder Read More »
I’m in the finishing stages of a report comparing cloud-based per-title encoding features. As part of that project, I computed the optimal ladder for 23 test clips when encoding with the x265 codec (medium and slow presets) and x264 codec (slow). This process made three things crystal clear. First, if your HEVC ladder is anything
Creating the Perfect Encoding Ladder Read More »
Checking in on VVC VVC reached First Draft International Specification in July 2020. We’re about 18 months past that date and it’s useful to check in on VVC’s progress to date, including licensing, performance, chipset development, and trials. Jan Ozer develops training courses for streaming media professionals; provides encoding-related testing services to encoder developers; helps
What’s Up With VVC (Versatile Video Coding)? Read More »
Remote production has garnered significant notice over the last few years for obvious reasons. While there is a specific definition that I’ll share below, the concept has expanded to any production schema where the talent or event is at one location and the video production at another. Jan Ozer develops training courses for streaming media
Beginner’s Guide to Remote Production Read More »
Companies attempting to formulate the ideal encoding ladder for specific videos or classes of content should incorporate both the harmonic mean VMAF score for overall quality and the percentile score to minimize transient quality issues. I’ve spent much of the last few weeks benchmarking H.264 and HEVC cloud-based per-title encoding capabilities like those available from
Creating the Perfect Bitrate Ladder for Video Encoding Read More »
Given the bandwidth and storage savings that higher quality x265 presets deliver, you may want to rethink your preset selection. We all know that the encoding preset that you choose impacts encoding time and quality. The tradeoff for x265 is shown in Figure 1, where the blue line represents encoding time and the red line
Choosing an x265 Preset – An ROI Analysis Read More »
I’ve always been fascinated with how YouTube encodes the endless hours of videos uploaded to the site. YouTube employs the best and the brightest and their task is positively Sisyphean. Jan Ozer develops training courses for streaming media professionals; provides encoding-related testing services to encoder developers; helps video producers perfect their encoding ladders and deploy
How to use youtube-dl : A Step-by-Step Tutorial Read More »
Companies distribute video for many reasons, sometimes as the product, sometimes to sell or market another product, sometimes for training or communications. Whatever the motivation or business model, your videos are most effective when the viewing experience is favorable. Factors like slow start times, buffering, poor-quality videos, and player crashes diminish the user experience and
Beginner’s Guide to Video QoE and QoS Read More »
There are many factors to consider when choosing a cloud encoding platform, including workflows supported, available codecs and output formats, the availability of features like DRM support and per-title encoding, and many, many more. But once you identify the services that check all the checkboxes, it will come down to price. And given that most
Cloud Encoding Pricing Simplified – SaaS, PaaS, Private, and Hybrid Read More »
