… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1687: A Compressed Guide to Codec Costs

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

In today’s world, a multi-codec approach is best.

This article, written by Adrian Pennington, first appeared in NABAmplify.com. This is a summary.

Transmitting data has a cost — in terms of bitrate and budget which CTOs of streaming media services need to carefully weigh.

Bitmovin has crunched the numbers and concludes that a multi-codec approach is best. That’s important given the codec race that has developed over the past few years. It’s a race that has no clear winner.

“At this point in time, if any OTT or streaming provider is seeking to reach the maximum number of devices at the highest possible quality, adopting a multi-codec approach is your best bet to success,” states The Definitive Guide to Video Codecs.

“Adopting just two (VP9 and HEVC) will enable an organization to reach roughly 98% of browsers and devices in the US alone.”

Codecs have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of video streaming workflows and operations. This cost is often measured based on file size, storage usage, and bandwidth consumption. Applying codecs is how content distributors can reduce their bitrate expenditure while maintaining a sliding scale of quality.

Bitmovin analyzed the numbers and shares their data on H.264, HEVC, VP9, AV1, VVC (H.266), and LCEVC.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s a link to get the Bitmovin report. The report is free, but requires your email address.