Bitmovin Report称，编解码器复杂性是一颗“核弹”

Low latency is emerging as a top focus area for 2020 to supplement the growing demand for live and interactive streaming experiences. But device 复杂的ity and codec inertia are hampering implementation, according to the results of Bitmovin的第三份年度发展商报告.

新闻1 "There's a nuclear bomb going off in the 复杂的ity of the codec market for OTT,基兰·法尔说, Bitmovin营销副总裁. “我认为，随着一些(供应商)倒闭，这种情况将会稳定下来, 剩下的就得靠它赚钱了. 我们都将不得不面对一个多编解码器的世界."

调查的参与者包括ovp的代表, 奥特提供者, 社交媒体, 出版商, 有线电视和电信公司, 和广播公司.

Almost half are planning to implement low-latency solutions in the next two years, as more emerging formats like interactive content demand increasingly "live-like" experiences.

Nearly a third of those surveyed expect latency of less than one second. 一个更“现实和可实现的目标”,Bitmovin说, is latency of less than five seconds (expected by half of respondents) at least in the short-term when it comes to scalable events.

"Service providers are looking for broadcast-like latency of between 5 and 10 seconds, 相比之下，实际的在线延迟超过30秒,肖恩·麦卡锡说。, 高级技术产品营销经理. 值得庆幸的是，很少有人在寻找亚秒级的延迟. 对于大多数体育赛事来说，这是不现实的，也不是必要的."

Even as demand rises for low latency, the industry is struggling to deliver it.

低延迟需要编码器, 外包商, 发布商, and video players to be updated to deliver end-to-end latency targets. Achieving this across multiple devices and platforms in a consistent manner takes the 复杂的ity to a whole other level, 越来越多的上市时间.

“视频流生态系统相当分散, 复杂的, 因此变化缓慢,麦卡锡建议道。. "Updates of low-latency standards like CMAF to PC is straightforward but can't be done as easily across devices, 尤其是智能手机, 哪些有不同或较长的更新周期. 这意味着这项新技术是不可用的. Cross-device 复杂的ity is the main challenge facing video streaming providers."

Bitmovin, for example, doesn't support CMAF natively in iOS because of restrictions for use by Apple.

“有可能通过大量的软件解码来解决这个问题, 但这很费力,麦卡锡说.

果然，H.264/AVC remains by far the most-used codec (by 91%) but device manufacturers, 浏览器厂商, 以及思科这样的内容分销商, Mozilla, 和YouTube已经开始在更大范围内实施AV1. Bitmovin thinks AV1 is well-positioned to compete with HEVC and to succeed VP9 for open source use cases in 2020.

“几乎所有人都依赖于H.264作为实际编码器的选择，”法尔说. "As a vendor, naturally we want encoding to move forward but this should concern the whole industry. 大约90%的设备可以支持H以外的编解码器.264 but they're not moving to VP9 or HEVC which renders talk of AV1 let alone MPEG5 and VVC redundant to say the least."

Bitmovin says broadcasters can make proven CDN cost savings up to 30% or more if they employ a multi-codec approach that leverages the capability of the device and optimises the bitrate ladder, 但几乎没有人这样做.

"Issues around HEVC costs have deterred the market … but there's also inertia among broadcasters to make change and some confusion about the right approach [caused by market 复杂的ity]."

The survey also found software on-prem encoding remains a top choice with cloud encoding implementations increasing steadily, 如果慢慢, 同比增长2%.

Hardware encoding implementations increased by 5% in 2019, per the report. The authors attribute this to an increase in live streaming workflows depending on SDI connections, 特别是那些要求低延迟的应用程序."

另外, hardware encoders remain the preferred choice for simplified setup and stream management, in particular among broadcasters who might be inclined to maximize the value of their investment while making a more cautious shift towards the cloud.

The free Google Analytics tool ranks as a top choice across respondents. 这通常是在网站层面实现的, and developers find it easy to extend collecting a few additional video related metrics.

Video buffering rate is the most-used performance metric, coming in at 36.5%.

令人惊讶的是, a fifth of survey participants responded that they do not use any video analytics products—potentially missing out on understanding the true ROI of their video content. The thinking is that integrating insightful analytics is 复杂的 and can be costly, 没有太多可负担的解决方案. In addition, it is hard for decision makers to understand that analytics provide a ROI.

"Adding another layer of 复杂的ity is the fact that developers are frequently tasked with solving all of these challenges and meeting business needs around content protection and monetization,Bitmovin首席执行官Stefan Lederer断言. “简而言之, everyone is trying to figure out how to deliver video in the highest quality, 最划算的方式, 在规模上."

The survey took the views of 542 industry execs from 108 countries in July of this year.