Streaming Blog: Industry News, Trends & Tips

IBM announces new chat for enhanced engagement

Written by Eric Cuadra in Product Updates on 7 September 2021

Hosting virtual events has become a practice that many event managers have had to adopt in the wake of the world pivoting to support remote engagement. In addition to providing appealing quality content for viewers, it has become exceedingly important to ensure that viewers also have a way to engage and communicate with others to enhance online experiences for those who would otherwise be connecting with people in person.

As a result, IBM has redesigned the existing chat functionality to provide a new, reliable and scalable performance while offering highly engaging tools that could make the difference for virtual event participants – all while maintaining the core chat feature set that IBM customers have become accustomed to. Below are highlights of the new chat features that customers can start using today.

Virtual Event Best Practices – Make it Personal

Written by Yuri Salnikoff in Tips & Tutorials on 7 July 2021

Most of us probably have a favorite memory of attending a cookout that offered a wonderful selection of goodies like burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, ice cream, watermelon, and other summer foods. We would pile our plates high, then settle in at the picnic table to share and listen to stories.

What made those such memorable experiences, though? Is there anything that we can learn and maybe leverage in our online venues and events? We explore virtual event best practices by examining ways to make it more personal and meaningful to the end user from a virtual event platform.

Secure Video Hosting and Viewer Tracking

Written by Anthony Romero in Tips & Tutorials on 30 June 2021

83% of executives see securing video content as important. As a result, organizations need a cost effective way to deliver content through secure video hosting. This encompasses both the ability to limit access to authorized individuals and also accountability, the ability to verify that employees viewed critical content.

This article explains the need for video security within organizations and then details the multitude of content restrictive features available. It then discusses utilizing viewer tracking functionality to track who is watching, going over what type of data can be extracted. The piece concludes by reviewing the Q&A module, which adds additional opportunities for employee engagement and valuable organization facing feedback.

Key Virtual Experiences that Inspire Storytelling

Written by Yuri Salnikoff in Tips & Tutorials on 24 June 2021

Do you remember the first time you sat around a campfire and quietly listened to stories or happily jumped in to share your own? The crackling of the wood, the orange glow of the embers, the smell of s’mores. The laughter. The next day, your jacket smelled a little smoky and you thought back and happily remembered a moment or shared a new story.

COVID-19 changed the way we share stories. Lockdown meant a year of digital “Brady Bunch” squares and, through trial-and-error, learning how to use video and chat, to send a happy emoji, to use Slack and email, and to turn off video quickly when your mother accidentally walks behind you during a new business pitch. We learned to divvy up our attention and jump from digital interaction to interaction. And we’re far from that relaxed campfire moment.

Video Terms Glossary: Definitions & Acronyms

Written by Anthony Romero in Tips & Tutorials on 18 June 2021

A streaming media and video terms glossary that contains definitions of acronyms, technologies and techniques. The definitions are related to live streaming, broadcasting, video hosting and compression.

These video terms are relevant for both new techniques and legacy methods, which still have ramifications today when handling older media. There is a larger emphasis for online video applications, although a few terms which have roots in older methodology and processes. The glossary will be continuously updated as the industry evolves. If you are looking more for some tips on executing these terms, check out these 5 Pro Tips for Video Production.

# | A | B | C | D | E | H | I | J | K | L | M | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W

University of Georgia Case Study

Written by Anthony Romero in Customer Stories on 8 June 2021

With roots that date back more than a century ago, the Department of Theatre of Films Studies at the University of Georgia has a long-standing tradition of preparing students to become leaders in theatre, film, and digital media practice. Part of their curriculum has included putting on intricate, headlining theatrical shows several times a year for audiences to enjoy. However, this program was directly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discover how the University of Georgia, by partnering with AT&T and IBM, was able to not just successfully pivot performances to online with great video quality and content security, but also expand their programming.

Interlaced Video & Deinterlacing for Streaming

Written by Anthony Romero in Tips & Tutorials on 10 May 2021

Interlace video example before deinterlacing

Have you ever seen video content that looks like the image above, but weren’t sure of the cause? These overt horizontal lines, appearing as pixelation around movement like out of an old school Atari game, are an artifact created from presenting an interlaced source in a progressive format.

This article explains what is interlaced video content and which sources, such as analogue cameras, can produce this type of video content on a live streaming platform. It then goes over deinterlacing techniques to remove this artifact and how to easily enable it on the encoder side… and why you wouldn’t want to use deinterlacing on content that is already progressive.

Audio-only Playback for Video Streaming

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 5 May 2021

Ever dealt with a viewer you had to turn away because their connection speed was simply too slow, even at the lowest quality setting? Audio-only playback for video streaming can be a possible solution. It offers a low bandwidth option for an on demand and live streaming platform that can further broaden accessibility to content.

This feature was recently introduced for IBM Video Streaming and IBM Enterprise Video Streaming.

GROHE Case Study: Creating a Multi-Language Digital Experience

Written by Anthony Romero in Customer Stories on 26 April 2021

GROHE, a leading global brand for complete bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings, has long participated in some of the industries largest events. As one of the biggest players in the sanitation space, this would mean elaborate and involved appearances at fairs, trade shows and other venues. However, these activities have involved in-person elements, an aspect that during the COVID-19 pandemic became harder to support in a safe manner.

Learn how GROHE, through partnering with IBM and VOK DAMS, has been able to successfully pivot toward launching robust digital experiences that continue to engage viewers on a daily basis.

Video Uploading Through APIs

Written by Anthony Romero in Product Updates on 19 April 2021

Looking for a faster method to upload videos? Need one that isn’t restricted to accessing the dashboard of a video streaming, enterprise video streaming or virtual events platform account?

IBM is introducing video uploading through APIs. This allows organizations to upload video files into IBM’s video platform programmatically, without requiring access to the account’s dashboard. This opens new opportunities for uploading files while also being a faster approach versus the traditional dashboard uploading.

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