Choosing the number of streams in an adaptive group and configuring them is usually a subjective, touchy-feely exercise, with no way to really gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of the streams. However, by measuring stream quality via metrics such as PSNR, SSIM, and VQM, you can precisely assess the quality delivered by each stream and its relevancy to the adaptive group. This presentation identifies several key objective quality metrics, teaches how to apply them, and provides an objective framework for analyzing which streams are absolutely required in your adaptive group and their optimal configuration.

Google has announced that Chrome will be “HTML5 By Default” as of Q4 this calendar year, meaning that users will need to click to allow Flash content to be played. This is obviously a major concern for the streaming industry, as Flash remains the dominant player technology today. There are native HTML5 solutions available for streaming video, but so far, the adoption has been low. This session reviews the state of the video player industry and compares a few open source and off-the-shelf solutions that can help keep those videos streaming.

All full-conference attendees and speakers are invited to enjoy "Lunch on Lawn". After a full morning of sessions head on outside to the beautiful Lighthouse Courtyard for some California sunshine and networking with fellow attendees. 

The video compression industry often encounters claims that some new encoding technology is X% better than previous state-of-the-art encoders, where “X” is some large number. In reality, arriving at a percentage gain is a complex process, depending on the reference (“baseline”) encoding, the encoding settings, the encoding bitrates, the video content being encoded, the method of comparison, and the comparison metrics. This presentation explains how to perform subjective evaluation of encoding technologies using a practical subjective test methodology that is credible and leads to meaningful results. The talk presents several examples of encoded bitstreams to be scored subjectively, shows how to score those bitstreams based on the artifacts present, and illustrates how to collect subjective scores and derive meaningful gain metrics from them.

This presentation covers how broadcasters can improve quality of service by making small changes to their ABR algorithms and analyzing via an effective AB testing workflow. We begin by offering practical feedback on how Dailymotion was able to improve QoS significantly via small player-side ABR iterations, explaining what metrics were used and the results obtained. In the second part of the talk, we delve into how to build an effective AB testing analytics stack, honing in on the tools needed and the appropriate environment to be able effectively analyze our actions and make changes in real time.

Building a great Roku channel has never been easier. In this session, Roku will unveil new methods to quickly publish on the Roku platform and monetize with video advertising. The presenter will discuss these new tools and some of the ways that developers and content creators can build their audiences on the Roku platform.

Join us for a fun night on the lawn as you network with industry peers while enjoying a selection of good brews and eats. Open to all attendees, speakers, and vendors.

Server Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) is an excellent path for content providers and distributors to a better user experience, higher overall video consumption, and providing less obtrusive ad delivery. This presentation will explain the differences between SSAI and Client Side Ad Insertion. Learn how SSAI works, its limitations, architecture readiness for migration, ad preparation considerations and possible changes to existing workflows. This presentation will also cover planning for target devices, platforms and video delivery methods and will highlight real-world use cases.

Almost all of the commercial cloud encoding services, and many of the largest streaming producers encode in the cloud using FFmpeg. It’s cheap, relatively simple, and highly effective. To accomplish this yourself, you need two basic skill sets; first how to encode with FFmpeg, and then how to automate, schedule, and manage the encoding processes. This presentation will detail how to produce H.264 files with FFmpeg, and describe the tools and techniques available to simplify the automation and management of these encoding jobs for both live and VOD encoding.

This presentation will provide a brief overview of how modern video players work, what broadcasters should look for depending on their technical and business goals, and different open-source tools that are available. It will discuss compatible formats, codecs and supported DRMs, user performance, the ability of each media engine to handle edge cases, and the performance of the ABR algorithms. At the end of the presentation, broadcasters will better understand what tools are right for their needs and be able to evaluate the pros and cons of each solution available.