Comments on: The Next Big Thing in Video: Adaptive Bitrate Streaming

By: Andy Tarczon

Andy Tarczon — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:51:54 +0000

@Jon Wirt – Jon, I partially agree. While people do want to watch content for free, there does have to be a supporting business model. My colleagues and I have been testing consumer receptivity to broadband video models- whether ad-supported or subscription. Consumer confidence is growing thanks to efforts like Netflix, etc. We do anticipate that more subscription models will emerge that allow consumer access to premium content – in some cases supplementing and other cases supplanting traditional paytv services.

To Liz’s discussion on adaptive streaming, indeed this is the new battlegorund for delivery. The technology has progressed to the point that a television-quality experience is now being delivered – often in stunning quality. While Move currently enjoys that quality lead, Smooth is rapidly catching up. Will be fun to watch. Thanks for the article.

By: Paul Walborsky

Paul Walborsky — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:59:04 +0000

@Jon Wirt – I have had some buffering issues (my broadband pipe is from Comcast ) so anything that helps stream HD without latency is welcomed.

@Liz Gannes – Adaptive bitrate streaming seems to be the right and most descriptive term for this technology. Please keep us posted on developments. BTW don’t you think that the new Hulu desktop UI is strikingly similar to that Joost?

Thoughts?

By: Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:03:34 +0000

Great analysis. The launch of 1080p video streaming to the Xbox 360 by Microsoft drove home to me how important this technology is going to be.

I’ve been using the Netflix streaming service for some time, which does a good job of adapting to available bandwidth, though I have to say downscaling to their low bitrate the picture quality looks pretty poor on my 42″ plasma (and I have FiOS!).

My guess is my connection is downscaled not due to FiOS bandwidth, but due to the bottleneck that is the home network (I use a hybrid HomePlug Wifi network). That’s part of the untold story of the streaming to TV: in-home networks will ultimately be the problem.

By: Jon Wirt

Jon Wirt — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:01:54 +0000

I am so glad that the powers that be are finally catching up to the fact that people want to watch streaming live content for free. The NCAA stream was some of the coolest products I’ve seen in a while (although it might have decreased my productivity at work).

Before this type of technology, I would use justin.tv or ustream.tv to watch live sporting events while I was at work (hey – MNF games start at 5pm on the west coast…), but hopefully in the near future, those will be live streamed. TNT did an amazing job at streaming the conference finals for the NBA. They had four different camera that you could watch all at once, or you could choose one and watch it full screen.

As for adaptive bitrate streaming – very rarely did I have a buffering / quality issue, but then again, it wasn’t streaming in HD. If that’s the way to do it, I say bring it on!

Has anyone else had any good experiences with live streaming (maybe the DMB concert on Hulu last week)?