How HLS & Transcoding enable Seamless Video Streaming
In today's digital age, video content has become an integral part of our online experience, disrupting several industries - from entertainment to education.
This article explores how HLS and Video Transcoding work together behind the scenes to provide smooth video streaming to end users on their devices.
WHAT IS HLS?
HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) is a protocol developed by Apple for streaming live and on-demand content over the Internet.
It works by breaking a video stream into a sequence of small HTTP-based file downloads, which are then played back by the client as a continuous video.
This format is highly adaptive, meaning it can adjust the quality of a video in real time based on the viewer's internet speed to ensure minimal buffering and interruptions.
HLS makes use of M3U8 - a text file containing URLs of the video chunks that need to be played sequentially - to instruct video players on where to find the video segments and in what order to play them.
WHAT IS VIDEO TRANSCODING?
Video transcoding is the process of converting video files from one format to another. It is essential in video streaming for these reasons:
▪️ Compatibility: Transcoding ensures that a video can be played on any device or browser regardless of its format.
▪️ Quality Adjustment: Transcoding enables the creation of multiple versions of a video at different quality levels. This process allows HLS to switch between versions based on the user's bandwidth, ensuring a smooth viewing experience.
▪️ File Size Reduction: Transcoding can significantly reduce the file size of videos, making them easier to stream.
HOW HLS AND VIDEO TRANSCODING WORK TOGETHER
The interoperation of HLS and Video Transcoding is the key factor that makes modern video streaming very effective.
Here's a simplified breakdown of the process:
1.) Video Preparation: In the first stage, a high-quality video file is created or captured.
2.) Transcoding: The video file is then transcoded into multiple formats and quality levels e.g. 480p, 720p, or 1080p versions.
3.) Segmenting: After transcoding, each video file is segmented into small chunks (usually 10 seconds long).
4.) Creating M3U8 Files: An M3U8 playlist file is then generated for each quality level, listing URLs of the video chunks.
5.) Streaming: This is the final stage where a user requests the video, and the appropriate M3U8 file is delivered to their device.
After receiving the file, the user's video player reads it, starts downloading the video chunks, and plays them in sequence.
Whenever the user's bandwidth changes, the player can switch to a different M3U8 file to adjust the video quality in real-time!
CONCLUSION
So we have come to the end of this article that covered the HLS & Video Transcoding concepts, explaining how they work together to provide seamless video streaming.
At AIOZ Network, we will introduce Web3 Stream (W3Stream) - an upcoming Web3 video infrastructure powered by 180k+ AIOZ DePIN nodes for hosting, sharing, and streaming Video-on-Demand (VOD) and Live-Streaming.
Upon its release, AIOZ W3Stream will significantly enhance the overall video streaming experience for end users and also empower content creators in an unprecedented manner.
About the AIOZ Network
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AIOZ empowers a fast, secure, and decentralized future.
Powered by a global community of AIOZ DePIN, AIOZ rewards you for sharing your computational resources for storing, transcoding, and streaming digital media content and powering decentralized AI computation.
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