BRIGHTCOVE ZENCODER

Brightcove experts Carl Rutman and Yuriy Reznik

High Quality Video vs Reducing Bandwidth

Brightcove experts Carl Rutman and Yuriy Reznik discuss the important role our award-winning context-aware encoding and multi-codec switching have in solving this historically difficult problem.

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Video ad streaming content on a laptop and smartphone

Fast. Reliable. And ready for anything.

Zencoder is the cloud-based video encoding platform for anyone who wants to create and deliver content for audiences around the world. With extremely fast transcoding, industry-leading reliability, unmatched input file compatibility, and output support for all connected devices, Zencoder puts the power of on-demand video in your hands, whether you’re sharing to viewers on their phones, on the web – or in their living rooms.

Fast encoding in the cloud — including 4K, UHD, and HEVC files
Unmatched file compatibility — support for the broadest range of input and output formats
Quicker ROI — no upfront investment; pay only for what you use

Get the datasheet

Live video product stream and chat on a mobile device

More quality for less money.

Our Context Aware Encoding capability, an Emmy® Award winning technology, delivers improved compression and adaptive bitrate streaming. You don’t have to think about it. Your viewers get a flawless performance, and you win with dramatically reduced bandwidth, storage, and encoding costs. Available with annual contract.

Tennis match video live stream on a tablet

Integrate in hours, not weeks.

It’s true — you can start encoding immediately, and seamlessly integrate your application with our fast and scalable encoding platform in a matter of hours. A well-documented API, easy-to-use API request builder, integration libraries, and world-class support streamline your process and provide an elegant and extendable solution.

File transcoding for web, mobile and adaptive streaming

(H.264, HEVC/H.265, WMV, MPEG-4, MP4, HLS, MPEG-DASH, MSS, VP9 and many more).

TEST	PAY-AS-YOU-GO	LAUNCH	Traction	Growth	Enterprise
FREE TEST JOBS	$0 PER MONTH	$40 PER MONTH	$300 PER MONTH	$200 PER MONTH	Contact us for volume pricing
Just taking it for a spin? Run as many test encoding jobs as you need.	Pay-as-you-go is a great option for sites that are just starting out and don't have much video usage yet. You can upgrade any time.	1,000 MINUTES OF OUTPUT VIDEO INCLUDED	10,000 MINUTES OF OUTPUT VIDEO INCLUDED	100,000 MINUTES OF OUTPUT VIDEO INCLUDED
Outputs are shortened to 5 seconds long.		and just	and just	and just
Limited to one concurrent encoding job.	5¢ PER MINUTE OF OUTPUT VIDEO	4¢ EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE	3¢ EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE	2¢ EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE
Outputs are watermarked.	5¢ PER MINUTE OF OUTPUT VIDEO	4¢ EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE	3¢ EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE	2¢ EACH ADDITIONAL MINUTE

FREE
TEST JOBS

Just taking it for a spin? Run as many test encoding jobs as you need.

Outputs are shortened to 5 seconds long.

Limited to one concurrent encoding job.

Outputs are watermarked.

$0
PER MONTH

Pay-as-you-go is a great option for sites that are just starting out and don't have much video usage yet. You can upgrade any time.

5¢
PER MINUTE OF OUTPUT VIDEO

$40
PER MONTH

1,000 MINUTES OF OUTPUT VIDEO INCLUDED

and just

4¢
PER MINUTE OF OUTPUT VIDEO

$300
PER MONTH

10,000 MINUTES OF OUTPUT VIDEO INCLUDED

and just

3¢
PER MINUTE OF OUTPUT VIDEO

$200
PER MONTH

100,000 MINUTES OF OUTPUT VIDEO INCLUDED

and just

2¢
PER MINUTE OF OUTPUT VIDEO

Contact us for volume pricing

Sounds great, now what?

Flawless viewer experience

Test jobs are free with outputs limited to 5 seconds. This allows you to test and integrate without being charged.

TRANSMUXING (SAVE 75%)

Transmuxing existing H.264 files for HLS or MPEG-DASH delivery counts as 1/4 regular minutes.

AUDIO-ONLY

Audio-only minutes (audio to audio, or video to audio) count as 1/4 regular minutes.

STANDARD-DEFINITION (SD)

Each SD minute (output frame size under 1280x720) counts as 1 regular minute.

HIGH-DEFINITION (HD)

Each HD minute (output frame size of 1280x720 to 2048x1080) counts as 2 regular minutes.

ULTRA HIGH-DEFINITION (UHD)

Each UHD minute (output frame size above 2048x1080 and up to 4096x2160) counts as 4 regular minutes.

CONTEXT AWARE ENCODING (CAE)

CAE automatically analyzes video complexity and applies dynamic encoding settings resulting in savings on storage and bandwidth costs, while improving the playback experience for viewers.

Additional information

HOW ARE FILE TRANSCODING MINUTES CALCULATED?
Minutes refers to the length in minutes of an output video. So if you encode the full length of a 10 minute video, your total minutes is 10. If you are using multiple outputs and encode your video into 2 different formats, your total minutes for that encoding job is 20.

ABOUT FRAMERATES
SD and HD outputs are limited to 240 fps (frames per second). UHD outputs are limited to 60 fps. Input frame rates are not limited, so you can have a 4K 1000 fps file as an input, but it will be limited to 240 fps as an SD or HD output, and 60 fps as a UHD output.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I USE MORE MINUTES THAN ARE INCLUDED IN MY PLAN?
Minutes beyond those included in the plan will be charged at the rates listed above. For your protection, each package also has a monthly maximum. If you exceed this value in a given month, the account will be suspended until you upgrade to a higher plan or contact support.

Zencoder supported formats

INPUT FORMATS

Container format	Audio codecs	Video codecs	Audio formats	Video formats	Closed captions
TS ISOBMFF MP4 (mp4, m4a, m4v, f4v, f4a, m4b, m4r, f4b, mov, 3gp) MXF ASF AVI WEBM ISOBMFF MOV FLV	AC3 MPEG-4 AAC MPEG-4 HE-AAC MPEG-4 HE-AAC v2 MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) WEBM ISOBMFF MOV MPEG-1 Layer I,II AMR - WB AMR QCELP Uncompressed (PCM, WAV) Lossless audio(ALAC, FLAC) Windows Media Audio(WMA 1-3) Vorbis	MPEG-2 H.264/AVC H.265/HEVC JPEG 2000 VC-1 VC-3/DNxHD H.263 MPEG-4 Visual CINEPAK MPEG-1 DV/DVCPRO ProRes VP6 VP8 VP9	stereo multi-channel 96kHz+	Interlaced HD HDR Dolby Vision (only passthrough)	CEA-608 (separated track) a/53 (embedded) SCTE-128 (embedded)

TS
ISOBMFF MP4 (mp4, m4a, m4v, f4v, f4a, m4b, m4r, f4b, mov, 3gp)
MXF
ASF
AVI
WEBM
ISOBMFF MOV
FLV

AC3
MPEG-4 AAC
MPEG-4 HE-AAC
MPEG-4 HE-AAC v2
MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3)
WEBM
ISOBMFF MOV
MPEG-1 Layer I,II
AMR - WB
AMR
QCELP
Uncompressed (PCM, WAV)
Lossless audio(ALAC, FLAC)
Windows Media
Audio(WMA 1-3)
Vorbis

MPEG-2
H.264/AVC
H.265/HEVC
JPEG 2000
VC-1
VC-3/DNxHD
H.263
MPEG-4 Visual
CINEPAK
MPEG-1
DV/DVCPRO
ProRes
VP6
VP8
VP9

stereo
multi-channel
96kHz+

Interlaced
HD
HDR
Dolby Vision (only passthrough)

CEA-608 (separated track)
a/53 (embedded)
SCTE-128 (embedded)

OUTPUT FORMATS

Container format	Audio codecs	Video codecs	Audio formats	Streaming formats	Closed captions	Encryption and drm (Only encryption service)
TS ISOBMFF (MP4) FLASH MOV WebM	AAC ARM MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) Vorbis Opus	H.264/AVC H.265/HEVC VP9 VP8 AV1	stereo multi-channel (up to 8.1) 96kHz+	HLS DASH Smooth	CEA-608/708 WebVTT SCC	Playready Widevine Modular Fairplay CENC AES-128