Transcoding: Everything a Business Should Know

Running a video streaming service means putting a lot of effort into retaining customers on your platform. One of the things you need to ensure is that your viewers get the highest quality of experience possible. They should be satisfied with your service. Then, they would want to remain your regular customers. What do users want? Among all, they want to be able to watch videos on any device it is comfortable for them. They want a smooth viewing experience without interruptions. An IPTV transcoder can help you ensure that. Let’s talk about transcoding in detail.

What is Transcoding?

When you produce a video, you first have a RAW file captured from a camera. Such a file is usually too big for delivery through the Internet. That’s why it should go through a couple of processes.

The first process is encoding. An encoder compresses the file. As a result, it takes less storage space.

Then, the transcoding process takes place. It makes the video suitable for playback on a receiving device. It creates multiple copies of the video in different sizes. As viewers have various devices and platforms to watch videos, transcoding is quite essential.

Some devices will require a lower-resolution stream. In this case, a high-resolution file will be transcoded into a low-resolution video. It will ensure that the user receives uninterrupted playback.

Why is Transcoding Crucial?

Online video streaming services usually operate on multiple devices, including mobile phones, TVs, laptops, and tablets. All of these devices are created by different brands, having various technical requirements for a video to be played.

Video transcoding creates multiple bitrates for adaptive bitrate streaming. It means that a viewer’s device will receive a video in a rendition appropriate for their network conditions. As a result, when the internet connection is strong, the video is of high quality. When the connection drops, the quality of the video changes. This is how the user experiences no buffering.

Transcoding saves resources, such as storage space or battery power, when reducing the size of a video.

Moreover, transcoding allows you, a content creator or IPTV service, to reach as many users as possible because you have multiple versions of your video suitable for any device. As a result, your viewers are satisfied and use your platform more often.

What is the Future of Video Transcoding?

The demand for video streaming services is growing, as well as the demand for high-quality streaming. It means that transcoding is here to stay.

Viewers enjoy various video formats: from live streams to VOD. All of them should meet the requirements of a receiving device to ensure excellent quality streaming. As a result, people are able to enjoy the video wherever they are.

However, transcoding has some problems to solve in the future. For example, the majority of internet storage is video, which leads to an increasing need for storage. The number of online viewers is growing as well, which can lead to a need for video compression.

Final Thoughts

Increasing the quality of service is a vital process for a business. Sometimes you can make your viewers happier by adding a new video to the existing library. But technical parameters are also important. You can boost the quality of experience by adopting transcoding technology. It will help you ensure that viewers have the best quality video possible. Moreover, you will be able to reach more devices around the world.