Eli Lubitch

For those who have Apple TN2224 committed to memory, I’ll start by saying, “sorry”.  It’s not that the Apple document isn’t useful for bitrate planning, but rather it’s just not that relevant today.  Said another way, TN2224 is useful for those seeking best practices for HLS implementations – especially HLS implementations on Apple devices – but if you depend on TN2224 for your ABR bitrate recommendations solely, the state of the art for encoders has moved on, and you would do good to follow.

Apple issued TN2224 in 2010 to help video distributors understand HTTP Live Streaming to iPhones and iPads, but since then encoding advancements and methods of efficiently packing video quality into smaller files have improved by orders of magnitude.  As a resource guide, this blog post will focus on new techniques for choosing optimum bit rates based on the need of the content and the target resolution, as opposed to the static recipes recommended by Apple.

Network bandwidth congestion is courtesy of streaming video over the Internet

If you have read this far, then you know the challenge video distributors face.  Bandwidths are coming under ever increasing pressure as a result of the wholesale adoption of streaming video.  T-Mobile in an effort to address this introduced the highly controversial yet successful program called Binge-On, even gaining the FCC’s blessing.  For more details on Binge-On you may want to read the blog post we published on the subject here.

Whether consumers are replacing traditional pay TV services or other entertainment offerings with streaming video, or if they are just augmenting (expanding) their entertainment choices, it doesn’t matter.  The fact is, consumers are streaming video everywhere, over WiFi, mobile, and fixed wireline networks.  Which means video services must plan their bit rates even more carefully.  With every modern smartphone and tablet supporting 1080p video playback, distributors of streaming content must consider not only the device capabilities, but also what bandwidth will that network be able to deliver.  

Consider an iPad on a home WiFi connection, where the ISP is capable of maintaining a robust 50 Mbps; there should be little difficulty in playing back a high bitrate 6 Mbps 1080p profile.  But once that iPad leaves the home, even though it may receive data over LTE, due to varying network and RF conditions, the same 6 Mbps that the mobile network is theoretically capable of delivering, could become highly variable leading to a poor user experience or compromised video quality.  

How to select ABR profile variants

Let’s examine the process of choosing more efficient ABR file variants for the range of devices and networks that we must address.  The first step to moving beyond fixed bit rate profiles is to select variations that are most appropriate for your application.  This means you need to understand the devices that your customers will be viewing content on, including the network type and performance capabilities.  For example, if you know most viewers are watching on mobile devices, with a 50/50 split of WiFi and radio connectivity.  You know that the screen size will be limited, making more pixels less relevant since the viewing distance is beyond the range of human perception.  Furthermore, you will find WiFi and cellular radio congestion can pose streaming data reliability issues, otherwise known as buffering.

When it comes to user engagement, UX and general satisfaction, many services fail in one of the following ways: poor video quality or poor streaming quality (generally buffering).  The issue with poor video quality is triggered by overly aggressive encoding bitrates, where the tension between marketing, that feel they must offer 1080p, and the reality of data rates that do not support the needed stream size, is very real.  Remember that the optics of viewing high-density screens such as retina displays, at higher resolutions such as 1080p, means much of the video encoded at these higher resolutions is beyond human vision.  The trouble with low video quality is when a low target bit rate is chosen (based on cost or network limitations) for resolutions where much of the encoded pixels cannot be seen by the naked eye.   

Tip #1: do not feel you must encode HD at 1080p 

720p can yield lower bit rates with better quality on many mobile devices.

The root cause of poor streaming UX is easy to understand as it is simply a matter of encoding at bit rates that are too high for the network.  The best example is right out of TN2224, where Apple recommends 1080p @ 8.5 Mbps.  Though it is possible, on a rock solid LTE connection, to achieve sufficient throughput, the odds are pretty low of this happening in actual practice.  Even on WiFi, where interference is highly variable, 8.5 Mbps can be problematic.  Want proof?  Consider that Netflix’s own ISP Speed Index shows that even on Verizon FiOS, the average bit rate they can deliver is just 3.79 Mbps.

Tip #2: the next frontier in encoding is content adaptive

Netflix made major news when last December they announced that they are re-encoding the entire library to gain a 20% reduction in bit rate.  For more details on content adaptive optimization, check out our blog post on the subject.  

Future posts will expand on this highly innovative approach and demonstrate why fixed recipes will soon be as antique as a 57 Chevy.  Though a 57 Chevy is cool, I’m not so sure fixed recipes should carry the same level of nostalgia!

Achievement #1

Wireless carriers are offering broadband speeds of 5-12 Mbps. These kinds of speeds are enough to accommodate most OTT recipes for full HD videos, bringing real meaning to any content, anytime and anywhere.

According to Netflix, 5.0 Mbps is the Internet connection speed recommended for playing their movies and TV shows at HD quality.

And, the Binge On initiative gives unlimited viewing of video without counting towards subscribers’ data caps (although this is done by limiting the streaming to SD).

Achievement #2

It’s been over 3 years now, where the top mobile phones and tablets offer screen resolutions of full HD and even higher, and I’m only listing the few that popped up in my mind: iPhone 6, Galaxy Note 4, Sony Xperia Z5, Apple iPad 3/4/Air, etc.

Achievement #3

All major OTT players such as Netflix, HULU, VUDU, Amazon and Crackle offer both iOS and Android apps with full catalogs.

So are we ready for any content, anytime, anywhere?

Despite the above, the answer is no. Because one thing is still missing: Reasonable pricing.

Netflix claims: Watching movies or TV shows on Netflix uses about 1 GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video.

Now let’s look at the following offered monthly subscription plans by Verizon.

• 1GB / $30
• 3GB / $45
• 6GB / $60
• 12GB / $80
• 18GB / $100

According to Verizon 4GB will allow 12 hours of streaming video.  Although they don’t indicate it explicitly, it seems that Verizon is referring to SD content, not HD.

Do the math

Based on current encoding technologies and best recipes applied by OTTs, a full feature film at HD resolution can take 2-3 GB. This is a showstopper! Call it a videostopper, or moviestopper, no matter what, this puts a real stopper on all the major achievements I just mentioned above.  

Because, this means that the pleasure of watching any content, anytime and anywhere will cost you about $30 per movie! With such a price you’re better off going to iMAX…

Give credit

MSOs and wireless carriers acted fast, improving broadband speeds to meet consumer expectations. In fact, technically any content, anytime, anywhere is here. In reality however, this is stuck in a theoretical stage, where this is nothing more than a slogan. It might be a good slogan, a futuristic one, but nothing more.

I don’t mean to play prophet here, but over time consumer interest always wins. And, the ability to watch any content, anytime and anywhere has already become the consumers’ best interest. In fact, it’s become their lifestyle.

Take action

It’s reasonable to ask consumers to pay $5-6 for a good viewing experience. Yes, that sounds more like it. This means that 1 GB should be priced at about 3$. All you consumers must be smiling now. MSOs and wireless carriers are probably not…

This kind of situation calls for a new innovative technology that can help bridge the gap and provide a reliable solution, today. Where bitrate and quality meet, is where content-adaptive media optimization comes in.

Media optimization solutions that do not compromise video quality or resolution, yet reduce file bitrate significantly – and can enable MSOs to deliver the same movies they are delivering today at just 1.2-1.5 GB.

I’ll leave both consumers and MSOs to do the math…

The future of TV displays

I want to begin with a conclusion: CES 2016 further validated that Media Optimization is perfectly in line with the main trends of the video industry. It was a real pleasure seeing our customers presenting at CES, such as M-GO (a joint venture between DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor) featured by Samsung and LG, both showcasing M-GO’s high quality streaming service alongside Amazon Prime Video.

This year I was really impressed with Samsung and LG’s demonstrations at CES. Samsung amazed everyone with the new line of SUHD TVs based on Quantum Dot technology, which brings intense bright backlight, as never seen before. This product line supports both 10-bit video with HDR, and now you can only imagine the data bandwidth required to feed it at 60fps or higher…

At the show, one of the specialists estimated that the synthesized color gamut demo was encoded at 80mbps. Bandwidth or no bandwidth, Samsung is not planning to wait for any ISP and already showcased UHD Blu-ray with 100 titles. The Beamr perspective: Media Optimization can allow content providers to unleash the full potential of UHD with HDR and 10-bits today!

360-degree, flexible, virtual, wearable… you name it

LG grabbed my attention with two extreme ends – the LG 8K Super UHD 98” TV and the amazing Flexible Display that will enable mobile devices with foldable screens up to 18”.

I have to briefly mention the plethora of 360-degree video and VR gadgets on the show floor that capture up to 9K x 1080p resolution video for a full immersive experience.

GoPro and others presented mature consumer products that are affordable, from drones to wearables mounts, enabling the creation of amazing content that will need ultra high bitrate.

There is a lot more to say about the pros, cons and readiness of these types of devices, but once again I urge you to acknowledge and prepare for the inevitable data complexity of streaming to mobile destinations with such amazing displays. CES was not only to impress, but also to prepare you for the future.

Why drive when you can enjoy a movie instead?

I can’t summarize my insights from CES without mentioning the automotive invasion. Once Elon Musk made a strong connection between consumer cars and “electric”, the CES show seems to be the perfect venue for the top automotive brands and contenders to show the latest and greatest in electric and autonomous cars.

Once again, from the Beamr perspective – if you have to be in a car for 5 hours, but you don’t need to drive it, why not watch a good movie… we enable high quality UHD to mobile destinations.

Introduced to applause from consumers and confusion from competitors, the T-Mobile® Binge On plan enables subscribers to view video from 15 content providers, without usage being counted in their mobile data consumption. This represents a major breakthrough.  Though the exact mechanics behind how T-Mobile is making this possible are unknown, with a basic understanding of streaming technology and given that the video resolution from providers’ participating in the program is limited to 480p (DVD quality), it’s not difficult to guess how this can be achieved.  

Binge On is optional and may be deactivated if users prefer the highest resolution possible on their device, such as full HD 1080p.  But who would want to when you can view as many videos as you like without worrying about a huge bill showing up next month.  

This is not the first time T-Mobile has attempted something so bold. Just look at Music Freedom™, which offers the same “unlimited” promise for select music services.  

So what’s the catch with Binge On?  The catch is this: for high-resolution, large screen devices such as the iPhone 6s Plus, you may see a noticeable dip in video quality.  A fact that is caused by the forced downgrade of what normally would be a beautiful HD picture to SD.  This doesn’t sound so good, so let’s take a deeper dive into what the drivers are for T-Mobile.  Why would they want to downgrade video quality and then heavily advertise this fact?  Doesn’t seem like a good strategy for customer retention and good-will…

T-Mobile states that the data optimization step used by Binge On, which streaming services must opt into, results in an approximate 66 percent decrease in bandwidth usage, or a 3x increase in video for the same amount of bandwidth.  We love this, as Beamr is all about cutting bandwidth.  But is there a better way to do it without sacrificing quality on the scale that T-Mobile is?

Cord-cutting and data caps

T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legere, eloquently outlined his vision of Binge On in his blog.  Binge On fits in with a “free and open Internet” and T-Mobile seeks to give customers the ability to control how they apply their high-speed data towards mobile video.  

After all, according to Legere, mobile video is now the number one way Americans use their wireless data, with data usage for this purpose growing by 145 percent in the last two years alone to 1.6GB per month.  And watch out, mobile video is set to increase another 400 percent to 8.4 GB per person by 2020.  Cord-cutting is up 60 percent since 2010, but it is the way customers are now consuming content that’s important for businesses to understand.  Video is increasingly going mobile.  Yes, we are watching movies on our phones and tablets, in some cases even while sitting in the very room where a large TV hangs on the wall.  Go figure.

Subscriber growth is not a booming business for carriers, but data consumption is.  According to Cisco, 4.2 Exabytes of mobile data per month will be consumed globally in 2015, but by 2019, that number will rise to 24.2 Exabytes.  From 2014 through 2019, it averages out to a compound annualized growth rate of 57 percent for mobile data consumption.  

Not only did budget-plan data caps for 4G data usage rise from 2 GB for many T-Mobile customers, but now many apps that would have used up that data in an hour or two won’t count at all.  You can watch Netflix and HBO and stream Spotify all day long without worrying about hitting that cap.

While this might seem counterintuitive from a B2B perspective for a mobile company to actively reduce their customers data usage, T-Mobile has done a great job convincing investors that market share gains and subscriber growth outweighs positive free cash flow and growth initiatives.  This is making T-Mobile the most pro-consumer company in its peer group, surpassing AT&T and Verizon.

What the other wireless companies all had in common until now, is a lottery winning sized revenue stream from overage charges alone.  And according to Legere, this year alone, all the carriers combined will charge $2.4 billion in overages.  But then Legere is quick to point out that $45 billion is the amount people will pay for data they didn’t even use.  Profoundly, consumers with limited data have a choice to make.  They can either keep their plan at its current data allotment and risk overage charges, or upgrade and risk paying for data they don’t use.  Sounds like a good deal for the mobile companies and NOT such a good deal for consumers.  Can you see why T-Mobile is depressing, sorry, “compressing” their competitors?

Essentially, Legere has charged that Verizon and AT&T have built their business model on getting customers to either exceed their data allotments or pay for more data than needed.

Binge On high quality video?

With T-Mobile’s new offering, content providers must agree to deliver a lower resolution version for files that are accessible through the Binge On program.  T-Mobile’s plan is to sign up many subscribers on medium-sized data buckets, and they are focused on keeping usage down.  

T-Mobile has calculated that the amount of data they can save by reducing high-bandwidth video on the network will balance out the extra usage Binge On will encourage.  

The key is the quality of the video being streamed. If you look at the difference in data use for a one hour program in 480p vs. 1080p, SD vs. HD resolution, T-Mobile benefits enormously.  Binge On gives the consumer a huge incentive to lower their bandwidth plan, which ensures the network will not be highly stressed, even as people consume more data.  That is the trade-off for consumers, who experience lower video quality under this arrangement.

Does Binge On put T-Mobile in a position to completely level the playing field?  Maybe not. Consumers are faced with a trade-off.  Do they want high-quality video streaming or unlimited streaming at a lower quality, without affecting their data plan?

At Beamr, we know they can have both. Media optimization – cutting bandwidth up to 50 percent, yet without compromising quality or resolution, well this is a win-win for mobile companies and consumers looking to stream quality video, whenever and wherever they wish.

We encourage your thoughts and streaming habits: streaming@beamr.com.

Where two parties are fighting, can a third party win?

I ended my previous post on a positive note, suggesting that media optimization could be the savior for network congestion caused by the proliferation of massive photo and video sharing – an integral part of today’s “capturing process”.  Let’s take the discussion a step further by looking at devices, streams, files and key industry players.

Much has been said about the Verizon-Netflix dispute, yet bickering about who is at fault, or why, simply extends the saga.  For context check out Dan Rayburn’s post on the dispute.

Broadband providers and content distribution companies can continue their ping-pong spats with or without net neutrality as the ball, but as Conviva reported: “every consumer should get the best possible viewing experience – regardless of their device, network, platform, ISP, or any of the other myriad conditions that can have an impact.”  There is no dispute here, but what can be done is the question.

The gap is growing

TV display resolution, pixel depth and refresh rates are moving higher and faster than residential broadband capacity to carry all this new data.  To unleash the full potential of new UHD TVs, supporting HDR and speedy refresh rates up to 60 frames per second, the industry needs more broadband capacity than is available today.  ISPs and content providers must join forces to better use the shared resource called the Internet, to meet the challenge set by consumers and the electronics industry.

But back to the game, a Verizon sales representative told a customer that upgrading to 75Mbps will guarantee the smoothest Netflix experience.  Ok, so he was exaggerating.  But, in reality he wasn’t far off in principle.  Bandwidth will determine the viewer’s experience – especially with 4K, and even more so with newer and more advanced technologies to come such as High Dynamic Range, otherwise known as HDR.

UHD translates into 4 times more pixels compared to HD 1080p. But the data complexity of UHD translates into as much as 8 times more when we consider the additional bits per pixel and frames per second, all needed to maximize the user experience.

How to jump the gap

The only way today to win this game is to make sure there’s enough network capacity for delivering the video streams at the pace and quality users demand.  All players in the content delivery arena are faced with this challenge, but to guarantee their viewers a high-quality experience, they will likely need to “cut some kind of deal” with broadband providers that are carrying the bits.  But this can get messy…

So in an effort to avoid future “sagas” it is becoming apparent that more and more companies in the content delivery industry are acknowledging the bandwidth (translated, capacity) gap.  And more importantly, these companies have decided to take action.

Some companies settle for compression solutions, which can only go so far, while others have begun to apply more efficient packaging techniques such as JIT.  But the most progressive have adopted media optimization tools.  True, I have a “biased” opinion on the optimal way to overcome this growing tension between video delivery and broadband capacity.  Media optimization removes redundant bits from the network, just as hybrid cars do away with unwanted emissions, thus it seems as a citizen of this great industry, that media optimization solutions should not be ignored.

In my next post I will provide an overview of various approaches to media optimization so you can decide for yourself which is the best solution for your service.  Thank you for reading, I appreciate the time you have given me to enlighten you on this problem and solution.

We live in an amazing time where with a smartphone alone, professional quality photos and videos are no longer limited to the exclusive enclave of high end studios.  And with Zogby Analytics reporting that 87% of Millennials confirmed in a national study that “My smartphone never leaves my side, night or day”, never before have we had the ability to capture lifetime memories as they are actually happening.

But what actually happens after this image is captured?  In the old days of film the photographer would focus the camera on the subject and at the right moment click the shutter which would expose light to a special photographic paper thus writing the image on the film.  The film would then be removed from the camera where it would be developed by a special chemical process, exposing the image on a photo paper where the resulting photo could then be shared with the intended viewing audience.  

Today the process of digital photography and video capture is quite different, in that there is no film.  From the moment the image sensor in the camera captures the photons in its viewing range, and converts them to a series of zero’s and one’s, a complicated workflow (that requires a network connection) for viewing, uploading, downloading, posting, sharing, sending, and storing is executed.  Photography and videography today entails much more than “a click”.

 

 

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Put into today’s visual context, if a photo or video is taken but not shared with anyone, well, what’s the point?  Unfortunately, media traffic is growing at a more rapid rate than the network capacity needed to support today’s workflow process of capturing photo and video sessions (http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends slides 13, 24, 60, 61, 70).

In the near future more photo and video bits (one’s and zero’s) will be created than our current networks (wireline or wireless) can handle.  With new technologies being introduced, which greatly improve encoding efficiencies for photo and video files, there will be solutions to address this impending gap.  

Media optimization to the rescue

One of the technical solutions that is in the market today is media optimization.  Media optimization is being employed by distributors of photo and video content to reduce the file size and bitrate of photo and video files, and by so doing has a positive effect on the network by adding immediate excess capacity since the resulting bandwidth savings can be reutilized for other traffic.

“It is well established that video will constitute the bulk of data traffic both on wireline and wireless from here on. From a consumer point of view, the access technology will just disappear in the background. They will care less what access medium is carrying the bits of any particular content or traffic http://www.mobilefutureforward.com/5G_Chetan_Sharma_Consulting.pdf page 17.

As this quote demonstrates, many in the “photo and video capture industry” do not care about network capacity. Instead they care only about enabling an effortless capture and sharing experience for the consumer.  After all, technology exists to serve a need, and for those in the business of capturing and sharing lifetime memories, this need is no more complex than capturing the first step of a child learning to walk.  And this describes the essence and magic of photos and videos as the moments we create and share today, can be experienced for a lifetime, or perhaps will be seen for lifetime(s) to come.  

Thank you for reading.  I will be sharing more specific insights on the topic, stay tuned.  

Hi, my name is Eliezer Lubitch, but everyone calls me Eli.  As the President of Beamr, I basically think, eat, sleep, breath and even dream about media optimization.  This passion started over 20 years ago…

At Scitex (a global leading graphic arts imaging company that was acquired by HP and Kodak), I filled various engineering, R&D and management positions. Then I was the Vice President Business Development for Kodak Versamark Inc. and Kodak’s corporate marketing.

I forgot to mention that in addition to my corporate executive experience, I have an entrepreneurial side and I was the seed investor of Tivella Inc., world pioneer of IPTV that was acquired by Cisco.

Today I’m completely focused on media optimization, specifically the intersection of imaging and networking solutions for the graphic arts, publishing and professional content industries.  I hold an MSc with honors in Computer Science from Tel-Aviv University and an MBA with honors from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

I have a lot of ideas related to the exciting and rapidly growing industry of media optimization. I’m looking forward to sharing them with you in future posts and hearing back from you through Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.