All 45 articles, sorted alphabetically
Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) Selection Algorithms, in depth: throughput rules, buffer-based control, BOLA, MPC and learned policies
How video players choose the next rendition: the ABR decision stated as an optimisation, throughput estimators (EWMA, harmonic mean), buffer-based con…
Read article →AV1 in Production in 2026, in depth: encoder choice, film grain, the ladder, device gating, fallbacks and real-time AV1
How to run AV1 in production rather than benchmark it: choosing between SVT-AV1, libaom, rav1e and hardware encoders, settings that matter, film grain…
Read article →DRM: Widevine, PlayReady, FairPlay, in depth: how the three systems differ, which devices need which, and how to protect one package for all three
Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay compared from first principles: who ships each, security levels and robustness, PSSH system IDs, the license exchange…
Read article →Fragmented MP4 Internals, in depth: boxes, moof and trun byte by byte, timing, keyframes and the bugs that break players
How fragmented MP4 works at the byte level: box headers, the init segment with empty sample tables and trex defaults, moof, tfhd, tfdt and trun flags,…
Read article →H.264 vs H.265 vs AV1, in depth: coding tools, measured efficiency, device support, packaging and a cost model for choosing
A practical comparison of H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC and AV1 for video delivery: what each generation changed in the coding tools, how to measure efficienc…
Read article →HLS vs DASH for Video Streaming, in depth: manifests, live updates, device reach, DRM and how to serve both from one segment set
A decision guide to HLS and MPEG-DASH: how both work over plain HTTP, the playlist and MPD side by side, live update models and clock sync, device and…
Read article →Low-Latency HLS (LL-HLS) Explained, in depth: partial segments, preload hints, blocking playlist reload, delta updates and a 3-second latency budget
How Low-Latency HLS works at the protocol level: partial segments and the 85% rule, PART-HOLD-BACK, preload hints, blocking playlist reload with _HLS_…
Read article →Adaptive bitrate -- matching video quality to the network
Deep-dive on adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming: the variable-bandwidth problem, multiple renditions (the ladder), segments, client-driven per-segment r…
Read article →ABR Decision Logic Worked Through, in depth: one streaming session traced segment by segment through an estimator, buffer zones, rung climbing and download abandonment
A worked walk-through of adaptive bitrate decision logic: a dual-EWMA throughput estimator, buffer zones, one-rung climbing and in-flight abandonment,…
Read article →AV1, in depth: the coding tools, the OBU bitstream, film grain synthesis, and how to drive SVT-AV1, libaom and dav1d
AV1 from first principles: superblocks and partitions, intra and inter prediction tools, transforms, CDEF, loop restoration and film grain synthesis, …
Read article →Caption and subtitle delivery architecture
Deep-dive on the video captioning pipeline: moving timed text from source formats through normalization, conversion, segmentation, manifest declaratio…
Read article →Video CDN Architecture in Depth
How video delivery differs from general CDN caching: manifest versus segment cache policy, ABR ladder object explosion, live rolling windows, segment …
Read article →CMAF architecture
Deep-dive on the Common Media Application Format (CMAF): fragmented-MP4 segments shared by HLS and DASH manifests, IDR-aligned boundaries for seamless…
Read article →Video Codecs Introduction, in depth: why raw video is enormous, the hybrid block-based pipeline, prediction, transforms, quantization, entropy coding and how to choose settings
A first-principles introduction to video codecs: raw bitrate arithmetic, YCbCr and chroma subsampling, the hybrid prediction-plus-transform architectu…
Read article →Video Conferencing Architecture, in depth: rooms, placement, cascading SFUs, subscriptions and end-to-end encryption
How a production video conferencing system is built around its SFUs: the control, media and service planes, the join path, room placement and capacity…
Read article →Video Containers, in depth: what MP4, Matroska/WebM and MPEG-TS store, how timestamps work, and how to remux without breaking playback
A practical guide to video container formats: the jobs a container does, ISO BMFF boxes and faststart, Matroska and WebM clusters and cues, MPEG-TS pa…
Read article →Content steering architecture
Deep-dive on DASH/HLS content steering: manifests declaring interchangeable CDN pathways and a steering-service URL, players polling for a ranked path…
Read article →DASH Streaming Architecture, in depth: the MPD data model, segment addressing, the live timing model and the player pipeline
How MPEG-DASH works from the inside: Periods, AdaptationSets and Representations, SegmentTemplate with $Number$ and $Time$, SegmentTimeline, the live …
Read article →Video DRM architecture
Deep-dive on multi-DRM streaming: Common Encryption packaging, key services, EME and CDM roles, license servers and entitlement tokens, hardware secur…
Read article →Multi-DRM Video Packaging, in depth: key exchange, what encryption writes into CMAF, manifest signalling, rotation and QA
How a packager turns clear CMAF renditions into one set of encrypted segments that Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay can all play: CPIX and SPEKE key e…
Read article →AI Video Editing Architecture, in depth: proxies, analysis indexes, the timeline as source of truth, text-based and generative edits, and frame-accurate rendering
How to build an AI video editing system: ingest with mezzanine and proxy files, analysis workers for shots, word-timed transcripts and silence, a medi…
Read article →Video Encoder Architecture in Depth: partitioning, motion search, rate-distortion optimization, rate control and threading
How a modern hybrid block-based video encoder (H.264, HEVC, AV1) works inside: the prediction loop with the decoder embedded, partitioning, motion est…
Read article →AV1 Encoder Architecture, in depth: superblocks, partition search, coding tools, loop filters, film grain, tiles and choosing an encoder
How an AV1 encoder is built: OBUs and the reference-buffer model, 128x128 superblocks and ten partition types, intra and inter tools, transforms and a…
Read article →Forensic video watermarking architecture
Deep-dive on forensic video watermarking: per-recipient payloads and collusion-resistant fingerprinting codes, perceptual imperceptible embedding, ser…
Read article →Video GOP structure architecture
Deep-dive on Group-of-Pictures structure: I/P/B frame references, IDR frames, closed vs open GOPs, decode vs display order and reorder buffers, GOP le…
Read article →H.264 (AVC), in depth: macroblocks, prediction, CAVLC and CABAC, the NAL bitstream, profiles and levels, and running x264 well
How H.264/AVC actually works and how to operate it: the macroblock pipeline, intra and inter prediction, the integer transform and QP, CAVLC versus CA…
Read article →H.265 (HEVC), in depth: coding tree units, prediction tools, in-loop filters, NAL units and shipping it with x265
A practical deep dive into H.265/HEVC: coding tree units and the CU, PU and TU quadtrees, intra and inter prediction, CABAC, deblocking and SAO, tiles…
Read article →HDR Video Architecture, in depth: PQ and HLG, BT.2020, static and dynamic metadata, encoding, signalling and tone mapping
How HDR video works end to end: the PQ and HLG transfer functions with computed code values, wide-gamut colour, HDR10 static metadata, HDR10+ and Dolb…
Read article →HLS, in depth: the playlist data model, live sliding windows, segment formats and a validator you can run
How HTTP Live Streaming actually works: multivariant and media playlists, the tags that form the contract between packager and player, MPEG-TS versus …
Read article →Just-in-time video packaging architecture
Deep-dive on just-in-time (JIT) video packaging: the mezzanine-plus-packager model, building HLS/DASH manifests and rewrapping CMAF containers per dev…
Read article →Live Streaming Architecture, in depth: contribution, live transcoding, packaging, origin and CDN, latency budgets and redundancy
How a production live video stream works end to end: contribution over RTMP, SRT or WHIP, real-time ABR transcoding with aligned keyframes, HLS and DA…
Read article →Low-latency live streaming
Deep-dive on low-latency live video: encoder and GOP settings, chunked CMAF packaging, LL-HLS partial segments and blocking playlists, LL-DASH chunked…
Read article →Per-title encoding
Deep-dive on per-title encoding: content complexity analysis, the quality-bitrate convex hull, VMAF perceptual quality, tailored per-title ladders, pe…
Read article →SCTE-35 and SSAI architecture
Deep-dive on SCTE-35 and server-side ad insertion: how splice cues mark avails, packager IDR-alignment and HLS/DASH manifest signalling, the SSAI stit…
Read article →WebRTC SFU -- scaling multi-party video
Deep-dive on the WebRTC SFU: the mesh scaling problem (N^2 connections, uplink exhaustion), the SFU's selective forwarding, forward-not-mix vs th…
Read article →Server-side ad insertion (SSAI) architecture
Deep-dive on SSAI ad stitching: SCTE-35 ad-break signaling, VAST ad decisioning per session, conforming creatives to the content rendition profile, sp…
Read article →Video Streaming Architecture in Depth
Video streaming architecture end to end: ingest, ABR ladders and GOP alignment, CMAF packaging for HLS and DASH, origin shields and CDN caching, ABR p…
Read article →Video Streaming Protocols, in depth: contribution versus distribution, RTMP, SRT, RIST and WHIP for ingest, HLS, DASH, WebRTC, WHEP and MoQ for delivery, chosen by latency budget
A map of video streaming protocols in 2026: why ingest and delivery use different protocols, where live latency comes from, RTMP and Enhanced RTMP, SR…
Read article →Video super-resolution architecture
Deep-dive on video super-resolution: the frame buffer and temporal neighborhood, motion alignment via optical flow, the SR network that synthesizes hi…
Read article →Video Thumbnail Pipelines at Scale, in depth: candidate extraction, quality rejection, scoring, smart crops, trick-play sprites and an idempotent job farm
How to build a thumbnail pipeline for a large video catalogue: the three kinds of thumbnail, extracting candidates with ffmpeg without decoding everyt…
Read article →Video Transcoding Architecture, in depth: probing the mezzanine, chunked parallel encoding on GOP boundaries, stitching, QC and an idempotent job farm
How a video-on-demand transcoding system turns one mezzanine file into a verified bitrate ladder: probe and policy checks, normalising frame rate and …
Read article →VMAF Quality Metrics: Architecture Deep-Dive
How a VMAF pipeline predicts human perceptual quality — elementary metrics, SVM fusion, model variants, pooling strategy, and the harness failures tha…
Read article →WebRTC video pipeline architecture
Deep-dive on the WebRTC video pipeline: the 200ms latency budget, capture-to-render media plane, ICE/STUN/TURN traversal, transport-wide congestion co…
Read article →WebRTC Video, in depth: the sender-receiver quality loop, from bandwidth estimation and simulcast to loss recovery, jitter buffers and freeze debugging
How WebRTC video actually reaches the screen: the closed loop from capture through encoder, packetizer, pacer, network, jitter buffer and decoder, ban…
Read article →WebRTC Video Pipeline End to End, in depth: one frame's journey from camera to screen, its latency budget and how to measure every stage
Follow a single video frame through a WebRTC call: capture, encode, RTP packetization and timestamps, pacing, the network and SFU, assembly, jitter bu…
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