Korbyt can support several common video formats, but the complexity of digital video and player hardware options can lead to less-than-optimal playback at times
Korbyt operates across a broad ecosystem of players and platforms. Primarily, the Korbyt platform uses the Chromium web engine to render videos within a multi-zone layout, which is powered by HTML5. There are exceptions, particularly on native players with full-screen videos in playlists, where native APIs are utilized for video playback.
The following best practices are based on our experience testing and deploying new content on the Korbyt platform:
Pre-Deployment Testing
It is crucial to test video content on one or more players before full production deployment for critical deployments. While the preview pane in the Korbyt Builder and the playlist preview provide useful initial insights, testing on your actual player hardware is essential. This helps ensure that content plays correctly across your different devices and environments.
Moreover, it’s advisable to conduct longevity tests to assess the content’s performance over extended periods, ensuring it operates effectively after days of continuous playback.
File Size Considerations
Video file size plays a significant role in playback quality, especially during streaming. Korbyt supports both streaming and caching modes for video playback. In streaming mode, larger files may cause suboptimal playback, particularly on less-than-ideal network connections. However, once the file is cached locally, Korbyt always uses the cached version, ensuring smooth playback.
Video Encoding Considerations and Bitrate
Korbyt does not automatically transcode videos.
Unlike platforms like YouTube, which handle transcoding and resolution adjustments, Korbyt allows you to upload raw video files. While this offers flexibility, it can also introduce challenges, particularly if high-resolution videos (e.g., 4K) are being delivered to devices with lower resolution capabilities (e.g., 1080p displays). Encoding videos appropriately before uploading is crucial to avoid performance issues.
Korbyt has a standard bitrate limit of 5 Mbps (average bitrate of video)
This is to ensure a consistent experience across player types with varying levels of processing power. Your tenant may have a higher bitrate limit set.
Videos have to be below your tenant’s maximum limit to be able to be added to a playlist. Videos over your limit will appear with a red warning symbol.
Video Encoding Best Practices:
- Bitrate Management
- Bitrate is critical for both file size and consistent playback performance
- We recommend using constant bitrate (CBR) encoding, as it ensures stable playback without large fluctuations in quality.
- Variable bitrate (VBR) encoding can have bitrate spikes that lead to playback issues
- For 1080p resolution, we suggest a CBR between 2-7 Mbps. For higher resolutions (e.g., 2K to 4K), the bitrate should be adjusted accordingly, based on the video content itself.
- It’s important to avoid excessive bitrate spikes, such as transitioning from 2 Mbps to 30 Mbps, as these may cause decoding problems on some players. Tools like FFBitrateViewer can help you monitor the bitrate fluctuations of VBR videos.
- Audio Considerations
- Depending on the use case, audio may not be necessary. Consider using a tool like FFmpeg to strip out audio from videos where it is not required, reducing file size and simplifying playback.
- If audio is required, consider the needed number of channels (Multiple, Stereo, Mono) and Sample Rate required. Any extra audio signal that is not needed will add to the overall demand when played back
- FFmpeg for Encoding and Debugging
- FFmpeg is an excellent free tool for both encoding and troubleshooting.
- By using the -v info or -v error flag, you can identify potential issues with frames or decoding problems, ensuring that the video is error-free before deployment.
- It can be found at https://www.ffmpeg.org/
- Source Resolution
- Always aim to maintain the source resolution of the video, or downscale it if necessary.
- Upscaling videos is generally discouraged, as it can introduce quality degradation and increase file size unnecessarily.
- Resolution Matching
- Always match the output video resolution to the intended display environment. This ensures that the video is appropriately scaled for the target device or platform, optimizing both performance and quality.
- Codec Selection
- For optimal compatibility and performance, use the H.264 codec, which is widely supported across most devices and browsers.
- Alternatively, VP9 is an excellent choice, particularly when using the Chromium renderer, as it is used by platforms like YouTube and is supported by modern browsers.
- Though codecs like AV1 offer advanced compression, they are not as widely supported so you will need to ensure that they are compatible with your target players and environment before widespread deployment.