CODEWITHSUNDEEP
azureazure-media-servicesazure-media-player
Naveen
Naveen

Reputation: 71

Why should a video uploaded to Azure Media Service be encoded?

I have recorded a video on my phone, I don't get why it needs to be encoded at all. Doesn't the format persist? Maybe I missing the point of encoding here. After the recording is it not already in format that is viewable to users?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 146

Answers (1)

johndeu
johndeu

Reputation: 2512

It's a valid question if you wanted to just upload the existing MP4 file that was encoded on your phone and just stream it as a single bitrate HLS or DASH packaged file.

Most users of our service prefer that the uploaded MP4 file is first encoded to multiple bitrates and resolutions to allow for Adaptive Bitrate Streaming.

If you are not familiar with what Adapative Streaming is or how it works, I recommend watching a few of these - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Adaptive+bitrate+streaming+overview

Or read through this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_bitrate_streaming

We have two types of encoding presets to enable this. One called Adaptive Streaming, which will generate a fixed "ladder" of bitrates and qualities, and one called Content Aware Encoding, which will look at your video, analyze it, and generate the best set of tracks and bitrates for the content type. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/media-services/latest/content-aware-encoding

Thanks, John D.

Upvotes: 4

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