Top Blog Posts of 2021
2021 began with the sunset of Adobe Flash in the rear-view mirror. This cleared room for alternative technologies to steer the video industry forward.
As a result, many of our most popular articles in 2021 looked at the online video players, streaming protocols, and video codecs that have emerged in Flash Player’s wake. Our readers spent the year familiarizing themselves with acronyms like SRT, VVC, and more. Out with the old and in with the new was the maxim.
Remote and hybrid models brought about by the pandemic also continued to define everyday life — with online video maintaining its utility for business innovation in every industry. For this reason, our readers also showed interest in articles on current trends and popular workflows in the video streaming space.
So, let’s get to it. Here’s a list of our most-read articles in 2021.
Best HTML5 Video Players
With Adobe Flash Player officially laid to rest, HTML5 players are the new industry standard. For that reason, it’s high time to consider your options for streaming video in 2021. Rose Power, Wowza’s developer community manager, summarizes how HTML5 players work and our top six recommendations when streaming live and video-on-demand (VOD) content.
Top Six Live Video Streaming Trends [Video]
As a follow up to his article on 10 Streaming Trends for 2021, Wowza’s VP of Solutions Engineering Barry Owen talks through his predictions in this video. From the live commerce to digital fitness, many of the topics will stay relevant in 2022, 2023, and beyond.
History of Streaming [Infographic]
Online video has become second nature across every industry. And yet, the history of streaming media only dates back to the early 1990s. Starting with the first live video stream in 1993 — featuring a Silicon Valley garage band named Severe Tire Damage — this article and infographic details all the major events and developments that catapulted us to where we are today.
The Streaming Codec Landscape in 2021
The ability to fit more data into less space has been one of the most remarkable feats of the past century — and compression technologies like video codecs have made it all possible. The codec landscape is also a diverse and dynamic space, which is why we often enlist the help of streaming expert Jan Ozer to cut through the noise.
Ozer takes a look at H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP9, and AV1 in this 2021 breakdown.
SRT Streaming: The Secure Reliable Transport Protocol Explained
Challenged to deliver high-quality streams over suboptimal networks? Looking to achieve low-latency content acquisition despite an iffy connection to the ingest point? Searching for a high-performance alternative to RTMP?
Look no further than SRT. The cutting-edge protocol has quickly gained prominence for its ability to deliver smooth streams, minimal lag, and pristine video quality. Take a look at this video and deep-dive for more info.
H.266 Codec: Versatile Video Coding (VVC) Explained
As the newest kid on the video compression block, the H.266/VVC (Versatile Video Coding) specification was only just finalized in 2020. A lot of unknowns still surround the codec, including royalty policies and overall performance. Jan Ozer cover everything we do know about the standard and future predictions.
RTSP to WebRTC: IP Camera Streaming for Real-Time Surveillance
The Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) remains standard in most surveillance workflows due to its support in IP cameras. Repackaging the stream into HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) is often required for viewing, but this can inject 20 seconds or more of latency.
A proven workaround for this is to use Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) for video delivery, which is compatible with most browsers and maintains sub-second delivery. For this reason, the ability to restream RTSP feeds from IP cameras for real-time playback via WebRTC has been a surveillance and security gamechanger.
Check out this tutorial to find out how it works.
Converting RTMP to HLS: Advantages and How-To
A different protocol is often used for ingest and delivery to speed up the journey from the camera screen to the end-user device — while also optimizing the viewing experience. That’s why content distributors use a media server software or service to convert the live feed from one protocol to another.
RTMP is great for efficient video contribution, but it no longer makes sense on the publishing end of a workflow. Conversely, we’d highly recommend HLS for last-mile delivery, but it isn’t ideal as an ingest format.
In this blog, we take a look at what RTMP and HLS are, the benefits of architecting a workflow that uses both protocols, and steps for converting RTMP to HLS with either Wowza Streaming Engine or Wowza Streaming Cloud.
The Impact of 5G on Streaming
5G — the fifth generation of mobile communications — has been a tech buzzword for several years. And like any other overused term, it’s a difficult concept to pin down. Is 5G the next best thing for internet connectivity or the cause of COVID-19’s deadly spread across the world?
Learn just what 5G means for video technology and the use cases that it will enable. From smart cities to virtual healthcare, there are plenty of industries that will benefit from its rollout.
H.264 Codec: Advanced Video Coding (AVC) Explained
Last but not least, this article takes a look at a tried-and-true codec — H.264/AVC. As the most common encoding format today, H.264 plays on virtually any device, delivers quality video streams, and comes with the least concerns surrounding royalties.
Jan Ozer digs way deeper than just explanation in this article, covering recommended configurations and other tips when producing H.264-encoded content.