MediaCP Manual
    1. Getting Started
    2. Sales Questions
    3. Frequently Asked Questions
    4. Transcoder System Benchmarks
    5. Start your own streaming platform
    1. Change account currency
    2. Product Licensing
    1. Introduction
    2. Installation & Upgrade
      1. System Requirements
      2. Versions & Releases
      3. Installation
      4. Upgrading
      5. Streaming Servers
        1. Nginx-Rtmp Video Server
        2. Wowza Streaming Engine
        3. Flussonic Media Server
        4. Video Feature Comparison
        5. Icecast 2 / Icecast KH
      6. SSL Certificates
    3. Billing Integration
      1. WHMCS Integration Guide
      2. Clientexec Integration Guide
      3. Blesta Integration Guide
    4. Migrate from other software
      1. Migrate From Centovacast
      2. Migrate From AzuraCast
    5. Backup & Restoration
      1. Backup MediaCP
      2. Restore MediaCP
      3. Transfer to another server
    6. Administration
      1. Troubleshooting Login Errors
      2. Custom Facebook App
      3. Custom Web Service Configurations
      4. Reset Admin Password
      5. Port 80 / 443 Proxy
      6. MediaCP System Commands
      7. Change MediaCP domain name
      8. Move media to another hard disk
      9. Secure your server
      10. Admin Tools
    7. Scaling
      1. Scale with Wowza and CloudFront CDN
      2. Nginx-Rtmp with CloudFront CDN
    8. Troubleshooting
      1. Grant access to support team
      2. Troubleshooting Wowza Streaming Engine
      3. FTP Troubleshooting
      4. MySQL Database Troubleshooting
      5. Reporting Troubleshooting
      6. Troubleshooting Liquidsoap AutoDJ
      7. Video Relay Troubleshooting
    1. Introduction
    2. Administrators Dashboard
    3. System Configuration
      1. General
      2. Services
      3. Video Players
      4. Albums
      5. Email
      6. Plugins
      7. Statistics
      8. Backups
      9. Custom HTML
      10. Misc
    4. Customer Accounts
      1. Managing existing Customers
      2. Create a new Customer
      3. Deleting a Customer
      4. Login as another Customer
      5. Send email to Customer
      6. Reset Customer Password
    5. Reseller Accounts
      1. Reseller Plans
      2. Create a Reseller Account
    6. Administrator Accounts
      1. Create a new Administrator
    7. Media Services
      1. Creating a Media Service
      2. Deleting a Media Service
    8. Announcements
      1. Managing Announcements
      2. Creating Announcement
      3. Deleting Announcement
    9. Statistics
    10. Software Health
    11. Software Updates
    12. Email Templates
    13. API
    1. Introduction
    2. Audio Operation Manual
      1. Basics 101
      2. Station Overview
      3. Media Library
      4. Playlists
        1. General Rotation
        2. Jingles & Advertising
        3. Scheduling
        4. Repeat Protection
      5. Live DJ Connections
      6. Live Stream Recording
      7. DJ Manager
      8. Country Blocking
      9. Fallback, Backup and Intro Files
      10. Stream Proxy
      11. Public Page
      12. HTML5 Player
      13. Stream Authentication
      14. Widgets & Links
      15. Reporting
    3. Video Operation Manual
      1. Basics 101
      2. Service Overview
      3. Scheduling
      4. File Manager
      5. Stream Targets
      6. Streaming to Your Service
      7. GeoIP Country Locking
      8. Public Page
      9. Widgets & Links
      10. Reporting
    4. Reseller Operations Manual
      1. Reseller Dashboard
      2. Customers
      3. Media Services
    1. API Documentation
    2. Custom Domain Names
    3. Shoutcast 2 Admin Guide
    4. Wowza and Flussonic on same system
    5. Submit a feature request
    6. Wowza Custom Properties
    1. Shoutcast 2 Live Broadcasting
    2. DJ Priorities
    3. HTML5 Audio Player
    4. Broadcasting with AutoDJ
    5. Shoutcast 2 Premium
    6. Mount Points
    7. Managing Media Using FTP
    1. Getting started with video streaming
    2. Live Streaming Overview
    3. TV Station Overview
    4. Ondemand Video Streaming
    5. VAST Advertising
    6. Relay & IP Camera
    7. Stream Recording
    8. GeoIP Country Locking
    9. Connecting your encoder
    10. Preparing Your Media Files
    11. Managing Media Using FTP
    12. Understanding Video Playlists
    13. Embedding player on your website
    14. Smooth Streaming and Content Transition
    15. Video Transcoding (Adaptive Bitrate Streaming)
    16. Image Logo or Watermark Overlay on Video Stream
    17. DVR Rewind
    18. Statistics
    19. Facebook Live Streaming
    20. Youtube Stream Publishing
    21. Twitch Stream Publishing
    22. Shoutcast 2 Stream Publishing
    23. Icecast Stream Publishing
    24. RTMP Stream Publishing
    1. Cloud Video Overview
    2. Admin Manual - Cloud Video
      1. Login to your cloud platform
      2. Dashboard - A First Look
      3. Branding your platform
      4. Team & Staff Members
      5. Plans & Customers
      6. WHMCS Billing Provisioning Module
      7. Activating VOD on Customer Plan
    3. User Manual - Cloud Video
      1. Login to your video platform
      2. First Look
      3. Creating a Channel
      4. Channel Overview
      5. Broadcasting
      6. Media Content
      7. Recording
      8. Fallback Video
      9. TV Channels - 24x7 UGC
      10. Video on Demand
      11. VOD Playlists
      12. Publishing
      13. Viewing Analytics
      14. Publish Zoom Meetings
      15. Advertising
      16. Restreaming IP Cameras
    4. Video Guide Series
    5. Streaming Best Practices
    6. Feature Comparison
    7. Roadmap & Release Notes
Streaming Best Practices

Last updated 8 months ago

To ensure the highest quality playback experience, you should always begin with the highest quality content possible.

Aspect Ratio

To ensure video content is not stretched inappropriately during playback you should ensure your source content is encoded with the correct display aspect ratio and square pixels. Ensuring your aspect ratio is the same as your playback locations will prevent black bars from being displayed on your content during playback.

Profile – Baseline, Main or High?

The profile determines how the H.264 codec compresses the stream. Greater compression produces smaller streams; less compression generally means better quality. Profiles are based on the streaming application:

  • High is geared for high-definition playback devices.
  • Main is suited for standard-definition broadcast and desktop streaming.
  • Baseline is suited for playback on mobile devices and for compatibility with older playback devices.

Bitrate

When preparing your source encode, you should allow for 40% of your total bandwidth overhead, that means if you have a 10Mbps connection you should not exceed 6Mbps on your encoder.

You can test your upload bandwidth at https://www.speedtest.net/

RTMPS, WebRTC & SRT

For optimal security of your streams, we recommend using the RTMPS stream URL and key. This will encrypt your live stream.

WebRTC & SRT ingest streaming will be available soon!

Encoder Examples

The following examples offer a great place to start.

 

Full HD 1080p

 
  • Resolution / Output: 1920 x 1080
  • Video Bitrate: 2000 – 4500Kbps
  • Keyframe Interval: 2 Seconds
  • Profile: Main or High
  • Audio Bitrate: 128 Kbps AAC

HD 720p

  • Resolution / Output: 1280 x 720
  • Video Bitrate: 850 – 3000 Kbps
  • Keyframe Interval: 2 Seconds
  • Profile: Main or High
  • Audio Bitrate: 96 Kbps AAC

SD 480p

  • Resolution / Output: 852 x 480
  • Video Bitrate: 500 – 2000 Kbps
  • Keyframe Interval: 2 Seconds
  • Profile: Main or High
  • Audio Bitrate: 96 Kbps AAC

LD 240p

  • Resolution / Output: 320 x 240
  • Video Bitrate: 300 – 850 Kbps
  • Keyframe Interval: 2 Seconds
  • Profile: Baseline
  • Audio Bitrate: 64 Kbps AAC

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