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Video Developer Report 2017

Welcome to Bitmovin’s Video Developer Report!

First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone for making the 2017 Video

Developer Survey possible! Without the great support and participation of the

video developer community, we would not be able to create this report and

share the insights into how developers around the globe work with video. With

380 survey submissions from over 50 countries, this report aims to give an

overview of the status of video technology in 2017, as well as a vision into what

will be important to video developers in the next 12 months.

We hope this report provides helpful information. We have already learned a lot,

and are looking forward to the 2018 Video Developer Survey a year from now!

Best Regards,

Stefan Lederer

CEO, Bitmovin

Stefan Lederer

Key findings

Apple HLS is the dominant format in video streaming in 2017, but the

format people are looking to in the next 12 months is MPEG-DASH.

HEVC is the video codec most people are planning to use in the next 12

months, but VP9 and AV1 are also growing in popularity.

Software encoders are the most popular encoders, used either on-premise

or in the cloud.

Cloud encoding is more popular in North America than in Europe.

More than a third monetize their online video with subscription models.

45% use some form of encryption or DRM protection.

Half of the developers with ad requirements are using a Server-Side Ad

Insertion solution.

HTML5 is now by far the dominant platform for video playback.

OTT devices like Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV have

significant regional differences in adoption.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

78%

HLS

MPE

G-DA

SH

RTM

P

Smoo

th

Stre

amin

gPr

ogre

ssiv

e St

ream

ing

Adob

e HD

S

MPE

G-CM

AF

Oth

er

56%

37%26% 25%

12%6% 2%

In 2017 Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) is the most

popular streaming format. This makes sense, as one

can reach all devices with HLS as long as you don’t need

DRM protection. In the popularity rank, it is followed

by MPEG-DASH, which is required once you need to

use DRM across different browsers and platforms.

Progressive Streaming (simple MP4 files) are still used

by a quarter of the participants as a fallback for older

browsers. Legacy formats, like HDS, Smooth Streaming

and RTMP are getting phased out, although RTMP is still

popular in contribution feeds as well as in low-latency

use cases, like betting.

Which streaming formats are you currently using?

Q1. Streaming Formats

Note: The questions in the survey are multiple choice, multiple answer, and therefore will not add up to 100%.

MPE

G-CM

AF

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

24%

HLS

MPE

G-DA

SH

RTM

P

Smoo

th

Stre

amin

gPr

ogre

ssiv

e St

ream

ing

Adob

e HD

S

31%

8% 7% 6% 4%

19%

Most video developers in the survey are looking to

use MPEG-DASH, followed by HLS. HLS is especially

interesting for many people as it now supports HEVC

on MacOS and iOS devices, as well as fMP4 segments,

which are supported directly by HTML5 without re-

multiplexing in JavaScript. A rising star on the list is

MPEG-CMAF, the new streaming format that aims to

harmonize HLS and DASH. Stay tuned to see the results

in the next year’s survey.

Which streaming formats are you planning to use in the next 12 months?

Q1. Streaming Formats

Regional variations in streaming formats

North America

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

75%

HLS

MPE

G-DA

SH

RTM

P

Smoo

th

Stre

amin

gPr

ogre

ssiv

e St

ream

ing

Adob

e HD

S

MPE

G-CM

AF

Oth

er

46%

42%

20%26%

8%3% 2%

EMEA

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%85%

HLS

MPE

G-DA

SH

RTM

P

Smoo

th

Stre

amin

gPr

ogre

ssiv

e St

ream

ing

Adob

e HD

S

MPE

G-CM

AF

Oth

er

58%

38%32%

27%

12%6% 1%

Interestingly, we don’t see any real difference in the

streaming formats between regions. While EMEA has

the highest concentration of HLS streams, at whopping

85%, and APAC leads in MPEG-DASH adoption with

almost 70% of participants reporting using the format;

the distribution of formats looks surprisingly similar.

100%

LATAM

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

74%

HLS

MPE

G-DA

SH

RTM

P

Smoo

th

Stre

amin

gPr

ogre

ssiv

e St

ream

ing

Adob

e HD

S

MPE

G-CM

AF

Oth

er

53%

42%32%

11%5%

0%5%

APAC

0%

20%

40%

60%

80% 72%

HLS

MPE

G-DA

SH

RTM

P

Smoo

th

Stre

amin

gPr

ogre

ssiv

e St

ream

ing

Adob

e HD

S

MPE

G-CM

AF

Oth

er

69%

38%28% 31%

19%

6% 6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100% 95%

H.26

4 /

AVC

H.26

5 /

HEV

C

VP9

AV1

Oth

er

28%

10% 6% 1%

The dominant video codec among survey participants is

definitely H.264/AVC, at 95% adoption. It is supported

by nearly every platform that is used by consumers

today; the 5% not using H.264 maybe for playback on

older set-top boxes or other niche use cases.

Interesting to see that 28% already use HEVC! Whatever

the use case, these organizations are definitely ready for

the upcoming HEVC support on iOS and Mac. Android

has had support for HEVC playback in native apps for

some time, as well as with set-top boxes in closed loop

systems where people control the encoder and the

playback device, and Android TVs.

VP9 arrives in production as well in 2017, especially to

reach browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge,

and Android devices. With a more efficient compression

than H.264, it can deliver better quality videos for the

same amount of data, or use less data while maintaining

the same visual quality. Netflix is using VP9 codec for

their downloadable content, keeping bandwidth usage

low and saving on CDN costs.

Interestingly, 6% of the responders already use AV1.

This is surprising, as the codec is still in the creation. We

assume that video developers are checking out this new

codec now, to be ready for its released at the end of 2017.

Which video codecs are you using currently?

Q2. Video Codecs

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

H.26

5 /

HEV

C

VP9

AV1

40%

18% 14%

Not surprising, in the next 12 months, most video

developers are looking into HEVC. Probably because

Apple has announced their support for HEVC with HLS

on the new iOS 11 and MacOS High Sierra. Similarly,

Android already supports HEVC, so we are looking

forward to a future with higher encoding efficiency and

better quality on mobile video applications.

In terms of Web browsers, currently only Microsoft Edge

and Safari has support for HEVC, while Firefox, Chrome

and Edge support VP9. This explains the importance of

VP9 for a lot of developers in the next 12 Months. When

it comes to AV1, the next 12 months will be extremely

interesting, as the AV1 bitstream gets frozen and the

codec will be officially released at the end of 2017.

Which video codecs are you planning to use in the next 12 months?

Q2. Video Codecs

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

54%

Softw

are

On-

Prem

ise

Hard

war

e

Softw

are

- Clo

ud

Clou

d En

codi

ng S

ervi

ce

Man

aged

On-

Prem

ise

46%34%

24%

7%

Q3. Where You Encode

In terms of video encoding - “software eats the world”

(to quote Marc Andreessen, the famous venture

capitalist and developer of the Mosaic Web browser).

The majority of the video developers in our survey

report using software encoders, either on local on-

premise hardware, or in the cloud. Software encoders

include commercial encoders as well as open source

tools such as ffmpeg, x264, and others, for Live as well

as On-Demand use cases.

Software is followed by the cloud, as an infrastructure

layer for video encoding, either self hosted, using a

software encoder, or on a SaaS model.

Hardware encoders are still very popular, especially

for live streaming use cases. However, we expect this

number to go down further in the next year, as software

encoders continue gaining in popularity with benefits of

scalability, flexibility and rapid deployment.

Where do you encode video?

Q3. Where You Encode

Regional variations in encoding deployments

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

51%

Softw

are

On-

Prem

ise

Hard

war

e

Softw

are

- Clo

ud

Clou

d En

codi

ng

Serv

ice

Man

aged

On-

Prem

ise

42%34% 30%

8%

North America

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

61%

Softw

are

On-

Prem

ise

Hard

war

e

Softw

are

- Clo

ud

Clou

d En

codi

ng

Serv

ice

Man

aged

On-

Prem

ise48%

27%17%

4%

EMEA

We see an interesting difference here between the North

America + EMEA regions, where software encoder on-

premise is the most popular deployment, vs. LATAM and

APAC regions where hardware encoders have higher

popularity. There is also a significant difference between

the usage of Cloud Encoding Services in North America,

where 30% of the respondents use them, vs. Europe,

where only 17 % encode with cloud-based services.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

50%So

ftwar

e

On-

Prem

ise

Hard

war

e

Softw

are

- Clo

ud

Clou

d En

codi

ng

Serv

ice

Man

aged

On-

Prem

ise

56%

41%

25%

6%

APAC

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

47%

Softw

are

On-

Prem

ise

Hard

war

e

Softw

are

- Clo

ud

Clou

d En

codi

ng

Serv

ice

Man

aged

On-

Prem

ise

63%

32%26%

5%

LATAM

It’s great to see that HTML5 is by far the most popular

platform for video playback, and that only 36% of the

developers still leverage Flash or Silverlight plugins. The

second most popular platforms, after HTML5, are the

native mobile players on Android and iOS. Mobile video

delivery has become a key focus for developers, as video

publishers are eager to support the growing numbers of

viewers on mobile devices.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

62%

Flas

h /

Silv

erlig

ht

Nat

ive

Andr

oid

/ iO

S

HTM

L5

Chro

mec

ast

Appl

e TV

Nat

ive

SDKs

/ HT

ML5

Roku

Amaz

on F

ire T

V

Oth

er

89%

34% 32% 31%22%

4%

19%

36%

Which platforms and video players do you currently use for your content?

Q4. Platforms and Players

When it comes to OTT devices like Amazon Fire TV,

Chromecast, Roku and AppleTV, we see notable regional

differences. While Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV and

Chromecast are all popular OTT streaming platforms

in North America, Chromecast is the most popular OTT

platform in Latin America. At the same time, Amazon

Fire TV is not used much in LATAM and Roku has a low

distribution in EMEA.

Regional variations in OTT adoption

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

41%AP

AC

EMEA

LATA

M

Nor

Am

37%47%

31%

Chromecast

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

34%

APAC

EMEA

LATA

M

Nor

Am

27% 21%38%

Apple TV

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

19%

APAC

EMEA

LATA

M

Nor

Am

8%

32% 35%

Roku

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

19%

APAC

EMEA

LATA

M

Nor

Am

15%5%

24%

Amazon FireTV

HLS

AES-

128

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

44%

DASH

Pla

y-Re

ady

DASH

Wid

evin

e M

odul

ar

HLS

Fairp

lay

DASH

Ado

be

Prim

eTim

e HLS

Sam

ple-

AES

Non

e

Oth

er

44%38%

8% 8%

65%

10%

43%

We see that 35% of the video developers apply some

form of content protection on the streams they deliver.

Whether using basic encryption, like AES-128, or

Hollywood-grade DRM (Digital Rights Management)

protection, like Widevine Modular and Microsoft

Fairplay, content security is a necessary part of today’s

video streaming business.

MPEG-DASH has significantly simplified the

complexities of implementing a multi-DRM workflow,

applying the right DRM schema to fit the end-user

device and browser.

Which DRM systems do you use?

Q5. DRM Systems

More than a third of survey participants monetize

their online video deployments using subscription

based models. Subscription model generates the

most predictable recurring revenue stream and is

more popular choice for OTT streaming services. Ad-

supported models are very common for online video

distribution, especially among broadcasters, digital

publishers and social media companies that want to

get their content in front of a wide audience. Finally,

transactional/PPV model is a popular choice for

supplementing ad-supported and subscription models,

in fact, 17% of participants report using a hybrid

approach to video monetization.

Which monetization model do you follow?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

36%

Subs

crip

tions

/ SV

OD

Ads /

AVO

D

Tran

sact

iona

l /

PPV

Hybr

id

Oth

er

26%20% 17%

12%

Q6. Monetization Models

In terms of audio formats, we see one clearly dominating

format with AAC. It surprised us to see MP3 beeing

used by 43% of the developers. This might be a result

of MP3 being used for legacy HLS streams, older

Smooth Streaming or RTMP streams or audio-only

progressive streams. Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital

Plus are primarily used in premium use cases on set-top

boxes and TVs, where the user has the necessary audio

hardware to appreciate the premium sound quality. The

open source codecs Vorbis and Opus are not widely used

by the survey participants.

Dolb

y Di

gita

l

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

42%

MP3

AAC

Dolb

y Di

gita

l Plu

s

Vorb

is

Opu

s

Oth

er

90%

13% 8% 5% 3%

21%

Which audio codecs do you use?

Q7. Audio Codecs

VMAPIM

A

VPAI

D

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

16%In

sert

ion

/ Dyn

amic

Ad

Repl

acem

ent

VAST

Non

e

Oth

er

33%27%

15%

53%

3%11%

Nearly half of the video developers are using

standardized advertising technologies for their

deployments. Among the advertising standards, VAST

is the most common way of serving ads in video, due

to its simplicity and support by most ad-providers and

video players. It is very noteworthy that half of the

developers with ad requirements have a Server-Side Ad

Insertion / Dynamic Ad Replacement solution in place,

which generally requires more complex workflows and

systems.

What type of ad standard technology are you using today?

Q8. Advertising Technology

CDN

issu

es

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

27%

Play

er is

sues

Play

back

on

all d

evic

es

DRM

Ads i

n ge

nera

lSe

rver

-Sid

e Ad

Inse

rtio

n

Ad-B

lock

ers

49% 45%

21% 17% 15%27%

Q9. The Biggest Pain Points

When we asked the survey participants about the biggest

problems they are experiencing with online video, the

answer was very clear - Video Playback and Player.

This might be a result of the trend towards HTML5-

based playback; while in most cases HTML5 significantly

simplifies online video, using the MSE/EME is definitely

more challenging than other ecosystems, like Flash or

Silverlight. On top of this, video is consumed on more

and more different platforms, which all come with their

own special problems.

After player and playback issues, we see the other

classical pains and problems video developers face on

a daily basis: CDNs, Ads, and DRM, which are all fairly

equally distributed. We would expect that video playback

and player are a big challenge, but it is surprising to see

that this is a bigger problem than DRM, Ads or CDN.

However, it makes sense, once you consider that all

those other problems involve playback, making it the

focus for many people.

What are the biggest problems that you are experiencing with video technology today?

Q9. The Biggest Pain Points

A survey is an aggregate of opinions expressed by its

participants. The Bitmovin Developer Survey has voices

from a wide swath of the online video industry players,

from broadcasters and publishers, to OTT streaming

services and online video platforms (OVPs).

75% of the participants come from technical roles, like

developers & product managers, 23% are in business

roles and 2% are in research.

Interestingly, there is an almost equal distribution

between participants operating live and on-demand

content, and many, obviously, work with both.

Survey participants

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Live

OnD

eman

d

58% 60%

Research 2%

Other 31%Social Media 2%

Integrator 13%

OVP 16%

Publisher 9%

Telco/Cable 3% OTT Service 13%

Broadcaster 13%

Business 23%

CTO 7%

System Architect 9%

Engr Manager 13%Product 11%

Developer 35%

Survey participants by job title

Survey participants by industry

Bitmovin is a leading provider of video infrastructure

for forward-thinking media companies around the

world. The company has been at the forefront of every

significant development in online video - from building

the world’s first commercial adaptive streaming Player

for DASH/HLS/fMP4, to implementing next generation

AV1 codec and deploying the first software-defined

encoding service that runs anywhere: cloud, on-premise

or hybrid through Kubernetes and Docker. We work with

companies in over 100 countries to build innovative

video products. Bitmovin solutions are completely

in-house developed, highly customizable to fit with

existing workflows and easy to integrate. To find out

more about Bitmovin’s video infrastructure solutions

visit our website bitmovin.com.

About Bitmovin

video developer report 2017 - bitmovin developer report! ... low and saving on cdn costs. ......

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