Have you ever tried to watch a video online only to have it stop every few seconds while it is “buffering?” According to PCMag.com, “in streaming audio or video from the Internet, buffering refers to downloading a certain amount of data before starting to play the music or movie.” By downloading some of the data before it is viewed, the viewer should get a seamless stream of the video without interruptions. However, if your internet connect is not sufficient to meet the demands of the high definition video, you end up viewing the downloaded data before it has an opportunity to download more, resulting in repeated pauses. No doubt, the viewer then gets frustrated and gives up on watching that video.

This scenario could easily be prevented if the user knew the limits of his/her internet connection, and then would adjust the video quality accordingly. However, the quality of the Internet connection can change daily due to many factors, like the number of people on that network, rain, change of location, etc. It would be extremely tedious for someone to evaluate their Internet connection on a daily basis.

So, then can’t the video determine the limits of the Internet connection and automatically adjust to the best quality that stream without interruptions? The answer is YES! Yes, it can if the video player has adaptive streaming, which just happens to be a new feature included in our video streaming services.

What is adaptive streaming? Now that we have incorporated adaptive streaming, the video will automatically determine video quality based on the end user’s internet connection. This automatic feature ensures your user sees the video seamlessly, without blurred images or interruptions due to “buffering.” It even goes one step further to automatically adapt to mobile devices. Of course, the video player will have the option for the user to override the automatic feature and choose his/her quality if preferred.

We are happy to include adaptive streaming with the Private Media Channel to ensure your users have a great experience when viewing your videos and broadcasts.