Which video formats are used frequently with ABR streaming?

Tech QnA
1

I want to implement a video streaming pipeline with ABR streaming. Can anyone tell me which video format would be the best for ABR streaming?

2

In order to use video formats with ABR streaming, I would say HLS and MPEG-DASH are the most commonly used Adaptive Bitrate Streaming methods. Whereas, MPEG-TS (.ts)andFragmented MP4 (.fmp4)` are widely used ABR streaming formats.

  • The H.264 and H.265 are the most extensively used and supported video codecs for ABR streaming, MPEG-DASH is made to work with a variety of video codecs. These codecs provide high-quality video streaming at various bitrates and offer effective compression. ABR streaming enables the client device to adaptively move between different quality levels based on the network conditions by encoding the video content into numerous versions (bitrates) and breaking it into short chunks.

  • HLS with H.264 or H.265 codecs and Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming with VC-1 are two more common video formats used for ABR streaming. These protocols, which include Smooth Streaming for Microsoft devices and HLS for Apple devices respectively, both have similar adaptive streaming features.

Although MPEG-DASH, HLS, and Smooth Streaming are frequently utilized, it’s crucial to remember that the precise video format selected for ABR streaming can vary based on the streaming service, platform, or device being used.

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3

Interesting! but how to convert the MP4 file to MPEG-TS format?

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4

FFmpeg provides a bitstream conversion filter that allows you to convert from MP4 format to MPEG-TS format using a single command.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c copy -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -f mpegts output.ts

5

How can I use ffmpeg or other methods to combine 1000s of video files into one?

6

For that, you can use concat input format provided by ffmpeg.

Example:

  • Create a text file: file 100.ts file 101.ts.
  • Save it like merge.ffconcat.
  • Then use this command to merge the video files into one and you can also re-encode it if necessary.
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