Wowza explains how ABR adjusts video quality to bandwidth
This article from Wowza provides an educational overview of Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming, detailing how it works by transcoding and segmenting video data into an 'encoding ladder' for dynamic adaptation. It explains the process from video encoding and transcoding to client-side playback, highlighting the benefits of ABR for optimizing video quality and minimizing buffering across various devices and network conditions. The article also discusses standard protocols compatible with ABR, including HLS and MPEG-DASH, and positions Wowza's products as solutions for implementing ABR.
Key Takeaways
- ABR splits video into 2- to 10-second segments and stores them at multiple bitrates.
- Playback devices download a manifest first, then request the next segment based on current bandwidth.
- Wowza’s example encoding ladder ranges from 235 kbps at 320×240 to 5800 kbps at 1920×1080.
- The article says HLS works with H.264 or H.265, while MPEG-DASH is an international standard and does not require specific encoding formats.
- Wowza points readers to Wowza Video and Wowza Streaming Engine as ABR implementation tools.
Why It Matters
For streaming teams, the immediate takeaway is that ABR is presented as the standard way to reduce buffering by matching segment bitrate to live bandwidth conditions. The article ties that workflow to a broader HTTP-based delivery stack, with HLS and MPEG-DASH as the main protocol options and WebRTC, HDS, and RTMP framed as narrower fits. One concrete signal to watch is the shape of the encoding ladder: Wowza’s example spans 235 kbps to 5800 kbps across 320×240 to 1920×1080, which shows how many renditions the player can choose from.
Read full article at wowza.com
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