Best Practices for testing your live stream
Part 1. – The 3 Essentials
1. Internet connection
Your internet upload speed* should be 2.5x the bitrate you choose to broadcast at. Note: this is only a guideline, however attempting to broadcast at too high a rate for your connection may result in poor performance of your stream.
2. An Encoding PC
The PC you choose to use as your Encoder should use the following guidelines:
- Pentium 4 Processor running at 2.4 Ghz or higher
- 512 Mb of Ram for audio, 1 GB of Ram for video
- Windows XP
- Windows Media Encoder 9
Note: other configurations will work, although this is a good basis to work from when selecting a PC.
3. A source
Your Live broadcast can come from a camera or microphone attached directly to your encoder, a video or audio mixing board, or a file.
Note: the quality of broadcast you can send out is directly proportionate to the quality of input into your encoder; use the best possible equipment and wiring, or the best quality file, to get the best broadcast.
* Below is a link to a popular speed test site which has test points located all over the globe. All you will need to run this test is a java applet (which they will have you download if you don’t already have it installed). It’s as easy as installing the applet then clicking the start test button.
Here is the link to the test site…
http://www.broadbandreports.com/speedtest?more=1
Simply select a test location nearest to you and then follow the directions. The number that you will be interested in is the Kbps number, this will give you a basic idea of what your connection can handle. The typical DSL connection has around 2044 kbps down and 768 up.
Part 2. – Preparing for your test
It is important to have a clear idea of what you are testing before you begin to broadcast, as this will help you have a successful stream and help NetroMedia to ensure the delivery of your stream is handled smoothly.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before starting your test:
1. What bitrate will I be broadcasting at?
2. Where will my audience be located?
Note: You should have one or more people from your target area log in during the test so you can see that the stream works well there.
3. What is the download capacity of the PCs I will use to view my test?
Note: If your projected audience is using dial-up you won’t want to test on a PC with DSL, and vice versa.
4. When will I be doing my test? And for how long?
5. How many people will log on to my test stream?
Note: Most broadcasters worry that their stream quality will degrade when multiple viewers log in. Having several people view your test will help eliminate this worry.
Providing the below information will help you have clear goals for your test:
Physical location of the Encoder :
Physical location(s) of the viewing PC(s) :
Bitrate :
Expected number of simultaneous viewers :
Upload capacity of the Encoder :
Expected time of the test broadcast :
Expected length of the test broadcast :
Part 3. – Evaluating your test
It is important to have specific things to look for during your streaming test, so that you can accurately determine if it was successful, and if not what went wrong.
Below are five questions that you should keep track of during and after your test:
1. Was the stream delivered with minimal buffering?
If ‘No’, how long was the buffering (in seconds)?
2. Was the stream viewable by all PCs?
If ‘No’, please provide the following information:
Make:
CPU:
RAM:
OS:
Firewalls:
3. Was there any mid-stream buffering?
If ‘Yes’:
How many times did this occur?
During how long a time?
What was the download capacity of the PC?*
4. Was the stream’s quality degraded when multiple viewers logged on?
If ‘Yes’, how many viewers logged in before the degradation occurred?
5. Was the stream delivered at the same quality as the preview in WME?
If, ‘No’, what is the upload capacity of the Encoder?*
Also you should feel free to give the tech team at NetroMedia a call at 1.888.818.3846 if you need help
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