Streaming online video has come a long way from its infancy when we were excited by the addition of a postage stamp embedded video player (later Flash) on our My Yahoo page. Comparing it to what it’s become today is unfair – like comparing an iPhone to a rotary phone. Today, the experience of delivering 4K and HD online video with adaptive bitrate is generally fantastic. And yet we can still improve this experience a little.
And that’s for the following reasons: For some, online video is the primary alternative to traditional television. For others, it complements traditional television programming. And that last sentence hides what is really important. The same standard is expected of online video as of conventional television: no long waiting times when switching on or channels, no technical faults. This television experience has shaped our experience for more than 50 years – a high standard. Today’s online video experience is convincing, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
## Building blocks: the online video primer
So, let’s explore and understand the functional components we need to focus on when optimizing today’s video experience. These may not be as fun as a classic Schoolhouse Rock explainer, but these vectors reveal where to find the aforementioned room for improvement. Focus on these and you’ll see the impact of your video grow.
How quickly does your video load? Does it take mere milliseconds before playback begins? It should. Player performance and video playback time-to-first-frame are absolutely critical to delivering exceptional video experiences and keeping viewers engaged. Today’s industry-leading video players leverage optimized HTML5 code with minimal cores that load only what is absolutely necessary at runtime. At least as important in today’s video landscape are Media Source Extensions (MSE), which enable optimizations at the lower level for optimal delivery and processing of formats such as HLS.
### In layman’s terms: Do you make money from your videos (if that’s your intention)?
Essentially, any efficient ad workflow today must seamlessly integrate player and delivery. Too many ads fragment even the best video experience. And if your pre-roll ad takes longer than 5 seconds to load, even the world’s best player technology won’t keep your viewers tuned in. Side ad insertion (SSAI) represents a fundamental shift in how online video ads are delivered, providing an experience comparable to TV in terms of efficiency, scale and responsiveness.
And online video is even better at one thing: its customizability allows for more targeted and geo-targeted ads that can be delivered to viewers everywhere. This is what advertisers want. At the same time, this is not just a technical hurdle. Those who make money from advertising must not lose sight of the impact of user experience when setting rules for monetization. Delaying playback even a few seconds to improve CPM will ultimately reduce revenue by driving viewers away. The industry needs to establish best practices in this regard, and it needs to significantly reduce ad response times and efficiently measure the impact on the target audience.
### Do you know what your viewers experience when they consume your content?
Is the quality optimal? Do you experience slow-loading streams? Are you suddenly interrupted in your viewing experience? Insights into start times, rebuffering, errors, bitrates, and rendition switches are critical to delivering a great video experience. However, knowing the data is not enough, you also need to know how to use it effectively. Harnessing and using this data to make players and video delivery systems even smarter is critical. Processing this data using machine learning to “magically” optimize your streams and improve viewer experiences (and in some cases reduce costs at the same time) is the next level of optimization in 2017.
### And don’t forget: visual quality is what matters.
Lately, it seems like everything revolves around 4K. In my opinion, however, using today’s H.264 tools cleverly and creatively is what the late Steve Jobs would have called “practically magical”. I can already hear what I’m going to hear: “Matt Smith, you must be out of your mind! Everyone is talking about 4K these days.” Sure, 4K is very exciting. When you see 4K content for the first time, you can’t help but be impressed – just like with the first HD experience. Believe me: I’m a big fan. I have two 4K TVs at home, and what Netflix and Amazon offer in 4K on these devices looks really good. But we still have a long way to go. In my opinion, the “H.264 bone is far from being picked clean”.
Well-produced HD video today can provide a visually equivalent experience, so most viewers will not notice a difference when viewing optimized HD and 4K side-by-side. And when you consider the capital and operational costs of implementing 4K online video and compare them to the optimization options available with H.264, the choice becomes easy. In my opinion, many have already rashly dismissed AVC in favor of a hyped, sexier (4K) alternative without considering the costs and problems caused by the adoption curve of new technology. In particular, before we can profitably offer 4K video to a mass audience, the hardware that supports decoding for HEVC in the mass market must be available. This means that your iPhone, Android smartphone, iPad, Roku and other devices on which you watch content must support this on the chip. And the answer to the question of whether this is already possible is the same as our parents gave us when we were kids and asked, “Are we there yet?” on the way to our summer vacation: namely, “No.”
I hope that the information I have provided has helped you plan for video innovation in 2017. Supporting media organizations and improving the user experience over the long term is a central tenet of our [Media Manifesto](https://www.brightcove.com/de/resources/blog/das-brightcove-manifest-zur-transformation-der-nutzererfahrung-und-wirtschaftlichkeit-von) at Brightcove. One of the reasons I’m so excited about this industry is that change and improvement are inevitable. Year on year, we raise the bar higher than we could have dreamt of, achieving things we thought were out of reach. So here’s to more radical changes in 2017! Keep your seatbelts fastened and don’t reach out during the ride.
