Live transcoding and its importance in live streaming

If you are live streaming, you probably heard about the topic of transcoding as being extremely important, do not confuse live transcoding with transmuxing or repackaging, or packetizing that’s another topic to discuss. Maybe you are already aware of concepts and the necessity of transcoding. Within the next paragraphs, we will discuss some concepts and ideas about transcoding and its meaning, as well as the definition. We will also talk about transcoding as a service that can be cloud-based. In the following, we will define what is live transcoding, and other concepts related to streaming and stream transcoders. So stay with us during the next paragraphs. We will talk about the following subjects:

• Definition of Transcoding.
• How important is the transcoding of the live stream?
• What is a Live Transcoder?
• CDN and Live Transcoding for Live Streaming.
• 5centsCDN Live Transcoding.
• FAQ.
• Conclusion.

Definition of Transcoding

The term transcoding can be considered broad because it will imply the process of streaming video. It is due to the fact that an already encoded video will be processed and altered. To formats necessary for various players to be able to broadcast correctly. For example, transcoding a video from a source quality of 1080p to 720p. There are other qualities that might be necessary for the video to be played on certain devices, for instance, 4k videos are not supported on all devices hence we can transszie it to be able to play on devices that support resolution started from 1080p, let’s say. So it means that the conversion done by a transcoder server would be from digital formats to another digital format or from one quality to another quality.

How important is the transcoding of the live stream?

Transcoding is considered critical, for example, in broadcasting, when you need to use an encoder with a certain model of camera. The content might be getting encoded with an RTMP encoder, source quality will be 1080p in 4 Mbps. Your live stream will be sent to viewers in 4 Mbps, and when trying to stream for your audience you might face problems due to slow internet connectivity. Only high-quality transcoding will be able to solve those issues. So, let’s check some of the problems and our solutions:

• Viewers without a high-speed internet sill face buffering issues. Well, the live stream will be just buffering, constantly preventing your viewers to see the live streaming smoothly. Live Transcoding might solve this problem instantly by reducing the video bitrates. Well, the quality of the video might be diminished but streaming will be smooth.
• The live transcoding enables to deliver live streams with different bitrates and resolutions, which is transrating and transsizing. The process of cloud-based transcoding by 5centsCDN makes streams transcoded into adaptive formats allowing you to deliver content to almost any kind of screen and device on the planet.
• It will allow you to reach a large number of viewers delivering video in H.265/H.264 and audio in AAC at different bitrates and also resolutions.

Checkout few other advantages:

Availability for any devices and bandwidths

The device targeted might not support the format, and also the file might be too big, as mentioned earlier. So transcoding also reducing resolution 4k to 1080p. Transcoding video can convert obsolete data or formats that are indeed or not compatible, and even more modern. This is the reason why stream transcoders are an important part of broadcasting and video streaming currently.

Some codec perform better

In this process of encoding and transcoding for converting into different qualities or outputs or profiles, using H.265 will be compressed with better quality.

Transcoding media and pricing

So conversion of live stream is a complex task for a computer and most will require powerful hardware resources. This is when cloud-based transcoding enters as a solution with lower prices. Not making you need to invest in powerful expensive hardware for your business. Why not let a specialized Company doing it on the cloud for a fair price?

What is a Live Transcoder?

Now, to start talking about the solutions that 5centsCDN will be able to offer to you, we might need to define a live transcoder. For the transcoding definition to be absolutely clear, we will need to address what a live transcoder is? 5centsCDN has built a cloud-transcoding using different technology stacks such as media servers, FFmpeg, and other applications, hence we can define live transcoder as a custom application that enables convert a live stream to multiple qualities, outputs, or profiles.

CDN and Live Transcoding for Live Streaming

If you want to reach different types of users, it might be important to get the right CDN service. Basically, without a transcoding service and CDN, you will not be able to deliver the live streams to users with slower internet speeds, tablets, smartphones, and also smart TV devices located across the globe. 5centsCDN live transcoding service might be essential to be able to create live streams with different bitrates and resolutions. Plus CDN with live transcoding and adaptative bitrate streaming might be just the right solution for you. Basically, this is the service offered by 5centsCDN with added features along with live transcoding.

5centsCDN Live Transcoding

As we were discussing previously, 5centsCDN provides live transcoding at awesome prices. But in this particular section of our post, we would like to talk about features that stand out from all the others available and similar out there. If we could define transcoding with its particular features as an important element, 5centsCDN would definitely be on the front line. So let us check them out?

Few Features:

Live Filters

What are filters? Simply you can add your logo or watermark text on top of your transcoded live streams. Pretty interesting and effective if you wish to brand your content. There are many other features such as vertical and horizontal flip which is effective while live streaming from your mobiles.

Multi Bitrate Transcoding

Our GPU-based transcoding architecture is a powerful resource that reduces the complexity and operational pricing, putting an end to bandwidth bottlenecks thereby allowing users to experience high-quality stream.

No Limit

There is no limit for transcoding. You can transcode a 24 x 7 stream or event a short time live event. Also you can deliver to any number of viewers using our CDN via HLS.

Multiple Profiles

Create any number of output streams to provide viewers with an optimal experience across web and mobile devices.

Adaptive Bitrate Streaming

Improve your viewer’s experience by delivering the live streaming content using adaptive bitrate streaming to suit the viewer’s connection speed.

Cloud Transcoding

Cloud transcoding is deployed on a cloud instance and we also offer dedicated server transcoding which are deployed on dedicated server which will limit them to the uptime of the server itself.

Flat Billing

You only pay a flat fee per month. There are no room for worries regarding the overages or hourly billing.

Preset Profiles

Customized and preset encoding profiles that target a specific device or a set of devices.

FAQs

Do you provide a custom live transcoding cluster?
Yes, dedicated clusters and dedicated resources can be allocated on a custom solution.

Do you provide API for live transcoding?
Yes

Can I set custom values such as bitrates and resolution?
Yes, you can also set audio setting and more

Do you support H.265?
Yes

Do you support watermarking and logo insertion?
Yes

Conclusion

In this article, we talked about what transcoding means, live transcoding as a service, and also very important features that 5centsCDN has. Our powerful features stand us out from all the other CDN and encoding services available not only because of quality but we are also very affordable with simple and flat pricing. So if you are going to chose cloud-based transcoding don’t forget to check out our features and options. Choose right, and opt for 5centsCDN for the best price options as well as incredible features! Don’t forget to like our post with important information about transcoded stream and share it with all your friends on Social Media!

---