Introducing LiveSwitch Server-Side Simulcast to Enhance Video Quality

LiveSwitch announces a release of a much-anticipated feature: Server-Side Simulcast. This article aims to introduce Server-Side Simulcast, explain the benefits, and guide you on how to get started today. 

Who is LiveSwitch

LiveSwitch is a pioneer in WebRTC SDK technologies, providing a complete WebRTC solution to companies looking to build custom live video applications or products. Being one of the few companies who have built their WebRTC solution from the ground up, our team can configure every part of our solution at a low level to tailor it to the unique needs of our customers. 

What is Server Side Simulcast

Simulcast is generally the concept of taking a single stream of media and creating different layers of that media for other users. Simulcast can be done in different ways, from entirely different streams to different layers within the same stream. For example, you may broadcast a sporting match to a group of users in high-quality 720p video. When your customers who suffer from low bandwidth join your stream, they are presented with artifacts, skipping, and other indications of inadequate throughput to consume your feed. This is where simulcast comes in. A second stream of that content designed to handle their low bandwidth constraints is created. The two streams now send the same content, but two groups of users consume the different streams; the high bandwidth users get the full-quality broadcast, while the lower bandwidth users get the more compressed broadcast. 

Usually, when you send a single WebRTC stream to a server, your stream can only be as good as the lowest bandwidth user in your session. Otherwise, a person in your conference cannot have a good experience, and their constant sending of keyframes may affect other users negatively. With simulcast, that user would be moved to a lower video tier, not interrupting or affecting users who can receive the full quality streams from their peers. Simulcast provides better quality sessions to all your users in a room, not just those with poor networks. 

How does it benefit you?

When you enable Server-Side Simulcast, your broadcast users can send the same stream up to the server; however, now the server will create multiple versions of that same broadcast at different quality levels and automatically send users the best quality that suits their network. Think of it like when you watch a YouTube video, the quality of the video is adjusted for you, and you don't have to worry about it. It doesn't require any extra work from your users or your application to function; once enabled, it just works. The processing power happens behind the scenes so that users can enjoy better-quality video without additional requirements. 

How do I get started?

To get started, visit LiveSwitch.io. If you haven't already, sign up for a free cloud trial and head to our console. Visit the application area inside of the console and enable Server-Side Simulcast. Then head to our documentation page here to learn more in-depth about optional settings you can use to improve the experience even further. 

Conclusion

Simulcast aims to provide a better experience for all your users regardless of their network conditions. It achieves this without requiring more resources from your customers, as any additional processing work is offloaded to our services. Simulcast provides the best solution to handle broadcasts to visitors and can easily manage small group sessions, ensuring everyone gets the highest quality session possible. The best part is that it's incredibly easy to enable, and LiveSwitch takes care of everything automatically after that. If you've had quality issues with live streaming in the past, there isn't a better time to get started and give it a try. 

Need assistance in architecting the perfect WebRTC application? Let our team help out! Get in touch with us today!