Not All Content (or Devices) Are Created Equal

If broadcast television taught us one thing about video content, it’s this: one size fits all. Whether you are watching from a television set, 用机顶盒, or from a mobile phone that has HBBtv or DVB-H (or, 现在, 电视3.能力，这并不重要. 信号是一样的.

Unfortunately, the one-size-fits-all approach is no good when streaming.

与广播, streaming often relies on unmanaged networks like the internet for delivery of content. 广播是一个封闭的、受管理的环境. The internet isn’t owned by any one company in particular. 像这样, delivery of streaming video can be fraught with difficulties not present in broadcast—like network variability (such as when consumers switch from a mobile to a Wi-Fi network), quality of service (it’s really hard to guarantee delivery when you don’t control the network, 因此有了“尽最大努力”这个词。), 和更多的. 当然, streaming technologies have been introduced to help address some of that, like adaptive bitrate which provides the appropriate quality stream to the requesting device based on a host of factors like available bandwidth, 内存和CPU利用率, 等. But the underlying one-size-fits-all strategy still reigns. Although different quality bitrates may be available, they aren’t necessarily reflective of the device that’s being employed, just its capabilities to accept and render a specific bitrate.

然而,, if there’s one thing streaming has really done to the experience of “watching TV,” it’s exploded the concept of one-size-fits-all. Traditionally, “watching TV,” has been done on a television set. But as streaming has unshackled content from old technologies, 像QAM, 并启用了新技术, 像知识产权, 现在情况已经不同了. TV can be consumed from a variety of devices that are all fundamentally different. Watching video on a 70-inch screen is a different experience than watching it on a 6-inch one.

The other aspect of streaming that has really changed the game is the device itself. From television sets to tablets to gaming consoles to mobile phones, each device has the capability of capturing a wealth of data about the viewer. In conjunction with session 信息 (again, thanks IP) that can be tracked through the player on the device to the server itself, a complete picture of individual viewing habits (non-personally identifiable, of course) and aggregate viewing habits (potentially down to a zip code level) can be developed. This is nothing like traditional broadcast television. It affords streaming service providers a host of opportunities to personalize the viewing experience in a variety of ways from addressable advertising to interactivity. And although the technology to do this is still very nascent, it’s available. 数据正在收集中. 可能性就在我们的指尖.

Only not much, if any, of the industry capitalizes on the opportunity. They continue to ship the same bits to all devices. And, from an operational standpoint, that makes complete sense. 如果你能用一种方式打包视频, 例如使用CMAF, and deliver to a myriad of devices in a variety of chunked formats, 这在商业上很有意义. But does it make sense for a device-by-device strategy? 一个启动, Streamroot (recently acquired by CenturyLink), 有技术试图解决这个问题吗. Let’s call it “context-aware delivery” (my phrase, not theirs). 通过使用观众的数据, they can help deliver versions of video bits tailored to a specific device experience. They aren’t the only streaming technology company looking to solve this. And many streamers have instituted logic into a delivery architecture that provides the appropriate bitrate to a specific user agent. 这是一个开始. It doesn’t use data, but it keeps in mind that one-size-does-not-fit-all. Why deliver a 1080p or 4K stream to a mobile phone when the screen can’t display that pixel depth anyway? 这是在浪费带宽.

It’s time for streamers to become more sophisticated, to start leveraging the data available about their users (which is not available for traditional broadcast), and ensure that what gets delivered to each device is not just the right bitrate, 但这些都是适合你的体验.

[This article originally appeared in the November/December issue of 流媒体 杂志.]