YNOT – When online video-on-demand provider AEBN debuted a new HTTP live-streaming (HLS) mobile interface earlier this year, the company was delighted to discover the resulting user data proved an alleged trend trend: People want to access video content from mobile devices instead of traditional computers.
Several major VOD providers have offered mobile-optimized content for quite some time, but AEBN’s newest technology allows users to purchase video by the minute instead of by the clip. Pay-per-minute viewing has advantages for both the buyer and the seller, according to AEBN Vice President Jerry Anders.
“Basically, what we have done is implement a system that lets us transmux on the fly into one of three adaptive formats and then deliver the highest quality video for the user’s device and connection,” Anders said. “This has allowed us to support iOS and Android devices.”
Adaptive streaming technologies all strive to deliver the best bit rate for the user’s local conditions while avoiding buffering. AEBN’s system accommodates bit rates from 320 KB to 6 MB. Anders indicated high-definition movies are gluttons for bandwidth, but a growing number of mobile networks and devices enable delivery of even the most bandwidth-intensive content.
In addition to HLS, AEBN also delivers adaptive streaming to clients whose older devices use Flash or Silverlight. Employing all three formats allows AEBN to provide a good end-user experience, no matter how customers choose to access content, Anders said.
“Content delivery is no longer about people watching video on their computer screen,” he explained. “People are watching on their phones, their tablets, even their HDTVs. As always, our focus remains on making sure users have easy access to the content they want at the highest quality across as many devices as possible. Like our emphasis on high-definition content, this change [to HLS] does just that.”
For more information, visit AEBN.net. The company maintains an affiliate program that offers custom theaters paying 30-percent revenue share.
