Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘video streaming’

Streaming anywhere with the Stream Anywhere 2.1 upgrade

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Stream Anywhere is Mydeo’s solution to mobile streaming and since we launched it last year, we’ve received very positive feedback. You can read our initial post on Stream Anywhere by clicking here.  We’re very happy to tell you that Stream Anywhere has just been upgraded. This post will talk you through some of the major updates included in V.2.1

DVR

A feature that’s been requested many times since Mydeo released Stream Anywhere is DVR functionality. If you didn’t already know, DVR is Digital Video Recording and it grants the viewer a number of benefits. Firstly, using the player controls, the viewer can rewind the live feed.  Imagine you’re watching a football game and you missed the match winning goal. Using DVR functionality, you’d be able to rewind the stream back to the point of the goal and continue watching from that point. Afterwards, you could always fast forward back to the point where you left off.

The second great feature of DVR is the ability to pause the live feed, much like most modern set top boxes. The DVR functionality is preconfigured to allow the viewer to pause the live feed up to a certain amount of time before continuing the stream.

Lastly DVR functionality enables you to make the live stream available for On-demand delivery up to 24 hours after the live feed has finished publishing. The on-demand file is made available through the same publishing URL as the live feed so will work seamlessly within your player. This is great because once a live event has finished,  it’s not uncommon for an on-demand version of the video to be put up in its place. By making the original stream available for on-demand play gives the production team a window to edit the original footage and replace the live feed with a permanent on-demand file. This means zero downtime and a much better experience for your audience.

RTMP playback

Adding to the existing playback URLs for Stream Anywhere is the ability to output in basic RTMP. The way Stream Anywhere works is by taking a single RTMP feed from your encoder and transmuxing it into HDS, HLS and Smooth Streaming formats. RTMP playback has been added to the list in V.2.1 which gives the user much more flexibility when targeting older browsers or devices that don’t support HTML5. Mydeo already offers normal RTMP live streaming but we can now offer it as part of the Stream Anywhere package.

Apple AES encryption

Until know, the only security option for Stream Anywhere was Media Vault which uses MD5 hashing to encrypt the playback URLs to only work when pre-defined parameters are met. For example you could configure the stream so it only works on a particular page of a particular website. In addition to this, we can now offer Apple AES encryption for the HLS playback URLs. This functionality can be added upon direct request to your Mydeo Account Manager. Along with AES, we can also now block streams to geographical locations so if you only want your stream to work in the US, we can now do that for you.

As ever, if you have any questions about Stream Anywhere or any of our other fantastic CDN solutions, please do not hesitate to contact us by email: help@mydeo.com or by phone: +44 208 540 2300.

Read Full Post »

JW 6 the one-stop player solution?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

We talk a lot about players here in the Mydeo blog but this due to the fact that we get a lot of questions from our customers about what players to use for their content. Unfortunately, there’s never usually a one-stop solution when looking into players but that may be about to change… JW 6 player is the latest offering in the JW player series and it’s packed full of features which we all should be very excited about.

One feature in particular that’s extremely useful is the HLS plugin. As you may already know, Mydeo offers full HLS support and is mainly used for reaching those all-important iOS devices. HLS itself isn’t supported natively within some of the more popular web browsers such as Chrome, IE and Firefox. Customers wanting to reach both desktop and iOS devices will generally stream with both a HLS feed and an RTMP feed. This however, could now be a thing of the past because JW 6 has the functionality to reach all desktop browsers and iOS devices with just a single HLS feed. When JW 6 detects a desktop browser, it uses a functionality called ‘flash mode’ and the HLS feed plays seamlessly within the browser. When it detects an iOS device, it then reverts back to HTML5 mode to play the same stream.

We had customer recently who needed this exact functionality and they utilised JW6 along with Mydeo’s HLS streaming accounts to pull off a very successful live event. This made things much easier for them because they only had to worry about the single feed and the built-in customisation options meant getting the player on their website was a breeze.

The HLS plug-in is only available through the JW 6 premium version but with this you get multi-end device functionality for both your live and on-demand content along with countless other customisation options. Using the built-in skins, you’re also able to integrate the player in a way that matches your existing website styling to achieve an overall professional look.

To find out more about the latest JW player, you can visit their website: http://www.longtailvideo.com/. To find out more about Mydeo’s HLS services, you can call us on: +44 208 540 2300 or email us at: m3@mydeo.com.

Read Full Post »

Mydeo sponsor Louise Cook in her campaign to become World Rally Champion.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

British Rally driver Louise Cook from Maidstone has set the goal to be the first female World Rally Champion. Louise started a sponsorship campaign called ‘Promotion50’ to raise the money needed to get her started on her road to glory. The idea was to get as many companies to donate just £50 to run her mk6 Ford Fiesta ST Rally car for a whole season. With the backing of Mydeo and various other companies, Louise has already boasts a multitude of achievements, including: British Rally Championship Ladies Campion 2011, Fiesta Sport Trophy Vice Champion 2011, BRCC RC4 Champion 2012 and more. Louise still has to complete her ultimate goal of being World Champion but with the on-going support from Mydeo and other sponsors, we believe this is just around the corner.

Louise races towards the finish line!

Mydeo are a content delivery company utilising the Limelight CDN. For more information about our services, please visit www.mydeo.com. You can also call us on: +44 208 540 2300 or email: m3@mydeo.com.

Read Full Post »

Comparing Mydeo to Amazon S3

Posted in Articles, Technical, tagged , , , on November 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »

We often get asked how Mydeo differs from Amazon S3 – so here’s a quick summary.

Amazon S3 is a storage system, whereas Mydeo provides Content Delivery via a Content Delivery Network (CDN). The CDN Mydeo use exclusively is Limelight Networks, one of the leading global CDNs optimised for rich media delivery.

The focus of S3 is not to get the content to the client as fast as possible, it is to have it available to them when they need it. A CDN incorporates both of these things, the content is always available and the network is designed to get it to the customer as fast as possible. There is also no chance of any down time on a CDN because of the numerous server clusters around the world. With a CDN, if a data centre were to go down, the content would just be delivered from a different location. Amazon’s S3 has been known to go down in the past for hours at a time, on one occasion it was down for over 24 hours – and no explanation was ever given as to why from Amazon.

Amazon’s pricing can be complicated. While it will be cheaper than a CDN it is not a cheap as it may first appear – you must pay for connections as well as throughput.

Amazon’s S3 is a great system for what it is designed to do but that is not streaming video delivery. A CDN is designed for video delivery primarily and the files are delivered from appropriate servers – flash files from an FMS etc.

I would therefore always recommend using a CDN for any streaming media delivery where viewers would, rightly, expect excellent delivery performance and 100% availability.

Read Full Post »

Posted in Technical, tagged , , on November 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Live streaming: Push vs. Pull

When encoding video or audio, you have two options. You can either ‘push’ the stream or ‘pull’ the stream. Each method has advantages and disadvantages which we will discuss here and help you to choose the method best for your circumstances.

Pushing a stream:

With a push stream, the local machine running the encoder is initiating the connection. This connection has to be made with a streaming server.

The main advantage of pushing a stream is that router port forwarding and firewall exceptions do not have to be made. A static IP address is not required to push a stream which would be necessary with the pull method. Static IP addresses are less common than they used to be and with some ISPs they have to be paid for. On an internet connection with no static IP address available, pushing the stream will be your only option. A push stream is generally less stable than a pull stream and would consume more local bandwidth because it is constantly connected to the streaming server that it is pushing to.

A push stream would normally be used for short one off webcasts rather than 24/7 webcasting because of its inherent bandwidth overheads.

Pulling a stream:

With a pull stream, a streaming server (or a viewer) initiates the connection with the encoding machine. It is possible to webcast without the use of a streaming server using the pull method; however, if more than 2 or 3 people connect to the stream simultaneously it will suffer and not be delivered properly to any of the viewers. When a streaming server is ‘pulling’ from the local encoder it would be possible to have hundreds of thousands of viewers without the stream suffering at all.

One of the big advantages of pulling a stream is that the server will only connect to the encoder when the stream is requested by a viewer. This means that you will be limiting your local bandwidth usage by using this method because you will not have to be constantly connected to the server. This obviously makes it much more suitable for constant 24 hour streaming. It is possible to restrict access to the encoder by IP address – which means you can only allow the streaming server to connect and restrict any unauthorised access. Windows media encoder also records and IP address of connections so you can see who is connected at any time.

One disadvantage of using this method is that in order for the streaming server to connect to the encoder, port forwarding and firewall exceptions will have to be set up. Using the pull method is ideal for streaming from a static location where the configuration of the network stays constant.

Conclusion:

When choosing the method you are going to use, the best thing to do is ask yourself a few questions before you start.

1.       Do I have a static IP address?

2.       Am I going to be broadcasting for longer than a few hours at a time?

3.       Do I have access to the router to set up port forwarding or firewall exceptions?

4.       Will I be broadcasting from more than one network?

If you answered no to the first question then pulling a stream will not be an option for you. If you are going to be broadcasting for more than a few hours pulling the stream would be the obvious choice because you will save on bandwidth use. Without access to the router (or someone who does have access) you will not be able to set up the port forwarding properly and the streaming server will not be able to connect to your encoder with the pull method which mean, you will have to push. When you are broadcasting from more than one network, the settings are likely to be different on each network. Pushing the stream would most definitely be a better option here because it will work regardless of the network security in most instances.

Read Full Post »

What is Smooth Streaming?

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , on August 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Smooth Streaming is a relatively new way to stream your videos at an adaptive rate giving your viewers the best possible viewing experience.  Smooth streaming can determine the bandwidth available and select the appropriate bit-rate to display your video at. This means that you will never have to cater for the lowest common denominator to make sure that everyone who requests your video will have a flawless viewing experience.

Smooth Streaming delivers small fragments of a video at a time (typically about 2 seconds worth) and verifies that each has arrived at the destination within the appropriate time and played back at the expected quality. If a fragment of video is not up to the expected standard then the next one will be delivered at a slightly lower bit-rate. Of course, the converse is true too.  This all happens over the HTTP protocol.

To create Smooth Streaming presentations you need to encode your videos in a particular way. The same source content would need to be encoded at various bit-rates with each bit-rate being one complete file. The advantage of this is that the user does not have to manage hundreds or even thousands of ‘fragments’ as the server will create ‘virtual fragments’ and will be able to switch between which complete file it is delivering. Smooth Streaming presentations can be created using an encoder such as Microsoft Expression Encoder.

A great example of Smooth Streaming in action can be found here – http://www.iis.net/media/experiencesmoothstreaming. This will require that you have Silverlight installed on your computer.

If you would like to discuss Smooth Streaming or any other requirements with us, please do not hesitate to give us a call on +44 208 540 2300 or email us on help@mydeo.com.

Read Full Post »

Mydeo and Smooth Streaming

Posted in Announcements, Messages, tagged , , , , on July 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Anyone looking for Smooth Streaming should look no further. Mydeo is now capable of dealing with your smooth streaming needs as well as all of the other services that we offer. A great example of this can be found at www.countrybehindthecup.com that is using Mydeo to deliver their videos using Smooth Streaming technology.

Smooth Streaming is an adaptive way of streaming your content over HTTP to make sure that your viewers get the best possible quality video for the internet connection that they have. You will no longer have to cater for the lowest common denominator or have your viewers make a selection of bandwidth before the video starts to play.

 For some more insight into Smooth Streaming visit this page – http://www.iis.net/download/SmoothStreaming

 If you have any questions or would like any more information regarding Smooth Streaming, please do not hesitate to contact us on service@mydeo.com or +44 208 540 2300.

Read Full Post »

Embedding live streams with Flowplayer

Posted in Articles, Technical, tagged , , , on March 4, 2010 | 7 Comments »

Embedding live streams with Flowplayer

Previously, we discussed embedding flash videos into a webpage for on-demand content here – http://blog.mydeo.com/2009/04/24/flowplayer-quick-start-guide/. While this article covers both RTMP streaming and HTTP delivery methods it does not include instruction for how to get live flash streams to work with flowplayer.

The basics for this remain the same:

Please note that the .js and .swf files referenced in the code below could be a different version to the ones you’ve just downloaded in the Flowplayer pack. Make sure you reference the correct versions of these files in your code.

Flowplayer now needs to be told that the video is a live stream and for viewing stream from the limelight FMS the stream needs to be subscribed to. The code below explains how to do this:

<html>
<head>
<script src="flowplayer-3.1.0.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<a style="display: block;height:400px;width:600px;background-color: #ffffff;border: solid 1px #ccc;" id="rtmp_player"></a>

<!-- Note: the property of the above tag (rtmp_player) must match the first parameter of the script below -->

<script>
                $f("rtmp_player", "flowplayer-3.2.5.swf", {
                    clip: {
                       url : 'stream1', //this is the name of the stream assset in the encoder
                       live : true,  // tell flowplayer it's live
                       provider: 'rtmp'
                 },

                plugins: {
                  rtmp: {
                  url: 'flowplayer.rtmp-3.2.3.swf',
				  netConnectionUrl: 'rtmp://xyz.fc.llnwd.net/xyz' ,  //this is the rest of the URL excluding the stream name that you set in the encoder
				  subscribe:true  //subscribe to the stream
                      }
                 }
              });
</script>
</div>
</body>
</html>

With all that in place you should have no problem viewing your live flash streams in Flowplayer.

As usual, if you have any questions or problems, please feel free to contact us on m3@mydeo.com and we will do our best to help you.

Read Full Post »

Mydeo customer origin

Posted in Announcements, tagged , , , , , on August 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Mydeo now have the ability to collect content from your servers and deliver it via the Limelight CDN. This is what is known as customer origin. Basically, your server will become part of the network and you will not have to upload your content anymore. This is particularly useful for people who already manage content on their own servers and do not want to do it in two locations – it is a great way to switch to using a CDN without the major hassle of uploading everything. We can set up a customer origin for any customer who is on an m3 plan and has their own server where the content will be hosted. If you would like more information about this or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact us on m3@mydeo.com.

Read Full Post »

Top tips for online video

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2009 | 3 Comments »

What is the best Bit-rate for online video?

The main thing to remember when dealing with online video is that the delivery of the video is hugely dependant on the viewer’s internet connection. The slower their internet connection, the lower the quality your video will have to be for them to receive it without any buffering. A standard 2 Mbps connection at full speed will be able to stream a video clip of up to 2 Mbps, however, it is highly unlikely that the connection is going to be running at full speed. There are many factors that affect the speed of a connection – this is why broadband providers say ‘up to 2 Mbps’. If your intention is to get your video out to as many viewers as possible you need to think about the lowest common denominator. ie. ‘What is the slowest connection speed that I am going to have to stream to?’ You also need to think about the lowest quality of the video that is acceptable to you. With both of these in mind, we would suggest a bit-rate between 500 kbps and 750 kbps. This will give you a quality that is acceptable to most people while still being deliverable on slower internet connections.

 

What format should I use?

There are many options when it comes to deciding what format to have your videos in. The decision needs to be made by knowing a little bit about your audience. If you intend to stream to mobile phones, for example, you need to pick a format that the media players on the phones can play. For standard website delivery, however, the choice is much easier. There are three main formats which you could choose from (there are many others available but none are considered standard). These are Flash, Windows Media and QuickTime. Each of these three has their own pros and cons but the main one to look at is market penetration. QuickTime is predominantly an Apple Mac format, meaning that some viewers with windows may not be able to watch your video without installing the software – which could put some users off. The same goes for Windows media and Apple users; they will have to install Windows media player for Apple. Flash has the highest market saturation which means that if you are trying to reach an audience who use both PCs and Macs this will be the best way to go.

 

Should I stream my videos or deliver them over HTTP?

The answer to this question is not as simple as picking one or the other. There is no doubt that streaming a video will save you on bandwidth costs. Having said that, you might have to lower the quality of your video to make sure that it is delivered to all of your viewers properly (especially the ones with slow internet connections). A great article to read which will help you decide is located here http://blog.mydeo.com/2009/01/12/streaming-vs-progressive-download-understanding-the-difference/. A basic rule of thumb is, if you have short video clips HTTP delivery will be fine because even if the whole file is downloaded you bandwidth usage will not be huge. If you have longer clips, streaming may be a better option to save on bandwidth costs.

 

What player should I use?

If you are using Windows media player or QuickTime the answer to this is obvious – Windows media player or QuickTime player. If you have decided to use flash we would suggest a player called FlowPlayer. It is very simple to set up and is fully customisable, and the best part is that it is free to use the open source license and a commercial license is only $95 (at the time of writing this).  They have great tutorials on their site which makes setting it up a breeze. You can find FlowPlayer at http://flowplayer.org.

 

Why do I need a CDN (content delivery network)?

Simply put, a CDN will speed up the delivery of your file, be it video, audio or static content. If you were to put your content on your web server with your website you could risk your files not being delivered to everyone who visits your site. A web server has a finite amount of bandwidth and the further your content has to travel the longer it will take. Let’s assume someone in Australia is trying to view your website which is hosted in the USA. That data has to literally travel across the whole world to get to the users browser. While this may be acceptable for something like HTML files which are small, imagine a video file which is much bigger going all that way. A CDN will deliver your file from its closest node thus speeding up the delivery of your file by limiting its journey. Because the bandwidth is limited on your web server, this means that the more people who are viewing your site the more connections that bandwidth has to be shared by. Eventually there will simply not be enough bandwidth to deliver anything properly to anyone. A CDN not only has much more bandwidth available to it at each node but it is also delivering the file from more than one location, depending on where your viewers are. You can literally have millions of viewers all watching the same video at the same time without the delivery being affected by it.

 

How much bandwidth do I need?

The amount of bandwidth that you will use is determined by three things. The bit-rate (quality) of the file, its length and how many times it is viewed. We have a bandwidth estimator which can help you decide how much you need here https://m3.mydeo.com/Business/plans.aspx . Try not to sign up for an inflexible plan or sign contracts for too long. You might find that your bandwidth requirements change and then you are tied into a contract either paying for more than you need, or over paying because you are using more than your allowance. With an m3 account, you can change plan from month to month meaning that if you expect high traffic for one month only you can commit yourself to a higher bandwidth usage for that month and revert back to a smaller plan from the next month.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.