Smooth Streaming – More than Cheap HTTP

When people talk about Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming, the focus is often on the fact that HTTP delivery is less expensive than traditional streaming. While this is true, that factor alone undersells the value of the technology. Going a level deeper, perhaps the biggest benefit of Smooth Streaming is the addition of adaptive bit rate functionality. Adaptive bit rate is the ability to dynamically adjust the quality of a video stream based on a user’s Internet connection and available bandwidth. The benefit is that content publishers can deliver the best video experience possible to all viewers, rather than dropping the performance bar to meet a lowest common denominator.

Yet even a discussion of adaptive bit rate doesn’t go deep enough. There are other benefits to the technology; other ways it provides value.

Smooth Streaming modifies traditional HTTP delivery so that it behaves more like content streaming rather than content downloading. This means that Smooth Streaming now provides a smoother, continuous playback experience, along with the flexibility to allow users to skip ahead or back within the video “stream” even though it is delivered via HTTP. And because it is HTTP, Smooth Streaming also gets around certain firewall issues resulting from standard streaming protocols, making content more accessible.

From a delivery perspective, HTTP is highly cacheable. Limelight Networks can support Smooth Streaming delivery with global caching and lightning-fast connections – using Limelight’s network platform – between Delivery Centers that house massive amounts of stored content. For consumers, this means super fast starts and complete downloads. Smooth Streaming literally smoothes out the delivery process, meaning no buffering, no disconnects, no playback stutter.

There’s more to the story too, and if you’re interested, check out our Feature Spotlight on Smooth Streaming. There are even further benefits when you combine our XD Platform with Smooth Streaming.

In the meantime, here are a few notable points to remember. Smooth Streaming provides:

• Affordable HTTP delivery
• Adaptive bit rate
• The ability to circumvent firewall issues with HTTP over Port 80
• Fast stream start-up
• Fast seek and skip

You can see Smooth Streaming in action on Microsoft’s site.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 7:58 am and is filed under Streaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.