In today’s fast-paced digital age, technology has revolutionized the way we consume media and entertainment. Thanks to faster internet speeds, greater bandwidth, and VPNs, video streaming is now more widely accessible to a large number of individuals across the globe. Internet users can watch BBC iPlayer in Canada with a reliable VPN service such as ExpressVPN.
Video-on-demand (VOD) streaming services are growing in popularity, offering convenience and a personalized viewing experience. Known for its vibrant multiculturalism and diverse population, Canada has adopted VOD streaming platforms to provide its residents with a wide range of content from across the globe.
Online data traffic accounts for 85% of video. A digital video stream transmits approximately 2.8 exabytes of data per second. The growth of VOD services such as Netflix, audiovisual communication platforms such as Zoom, social media platforms such as TikTok and live streaming have all contributed to this proliferation.
In this blog post, we explore how technology is enhancing VOD streaming in Canada, and learn about the most important developments in streaming technology and how they can improve your streaming experience.
Technological advances that justify streaming
Here are the breakthroughs that took streaming technology to the next level.
1. Advanced streaming technology: buffer-free experience
The advent of high-speed Internet connections is one of the most important developments in VOD streaming technology and has significantly improved the streaming experience in Canada.
Thanks to its robust infrastructure and widespread broadband access, Canada has been a pioneer in providing fast and reliable internet service to its citizens. This has had a major impact on the streaming industry, enabling users to experience high-quality, uninterrupted viewing.
Annoying buffering delays were a typical inconvenience before streaming video was abolished by fast internet speeds. Canadians can now stream their favorite TV episodes and movies seamlessly, providing a seamless and engaging viewing experience.
2. High resolution
Video streaming is being influenced by artificial intelligence, which is changing many different businesses. AI models can learn how to convert low-resolution photos to high-resolution ones by studying a variety of photos. For example, super-resolution techniques turn low-resolution images into high-resolution ones.
Super-resolution belongs to the class of generative algorithms that aim to produce useful learning. To produce high-quality visuals, the network can use low-resolution visuals and data extrapolation.
Furthermore, retraining the AI model effectively provides upscaled images at any time for new images with a large amount of visual data.
With this development, video can be streamed at 480p while still being accessible at higher resolutions such as 1080p on user devices.
3. Peer-to-peer streaming
For streaming video, a client-server paradigm is employed. Distribute data through CDN edge sites that cache server content. To stream your video, client devices such as laptops, TVs, and tablets retrieve media from all of these CDNs.
However, CDN-based streaming video has some limitations as shown below.
• The cost of broadcasting content over content distribution networks is high.
• A large amount of latency is caused by user surges.
• Insufficient CDN coverage for streaming media to remote locations.
The aforementioned issues make it difficult for streaming video services to grow their offerings and adequately maintain a positive user experience. Each problem can be solved by integrating P2P network with CDN streaming system or hybrid CDN (commonly known as hybrid CDN).
Install a peer-to-peer barrier on top of a traditional CDN, offloading the primary CDN by transferring files from surrounding peers running natively as the CDN and moving the perimeter closer to the user.
4. Multiple Content Delivery Networks
As shown, content is delivered to user devices using a CDN, which acts as temporary storage for server content. To serve data, a CDN needs data centers spread across multiple regions.
Point of Presence (POP) is mentioned here. Having the largest number of POPs is the ideal course of action. However, not every CDN has comparable global reach. For example, several of the most famous CDNs in China do not have POP.
Each CDN typically exhibits variable and unpredictable availability over time. Murphy’s Law also states that a CDN outage can happen at any time. Probably the best way to minimize these risks is to access multiple CDNs at the same time.
5. Each header is coded
In short, it is an efficient encoding method that adjusts the bitrate pyramid for each video according to the complexity of the video. The main goal is to choose a bitrate that gives the codec enough headroom to contain the data needed to provide an uninterrupted viewing experience, but nothing more.
Another way to look at it is that a compressed, responsive bundle only includes content that users actually find relevant. It has nothing that the human eye cannot see.
Additionally, it reduces the chances of the compression algorithm preventing a degradation in the perceived quality of the content.
In contrast, documentaries typically have much less movement in any given scene, opening up the possibility of using codecs to compress the delivered information more efficiently without sacrificing detection accuracy.
The world of VOD streaming in Canada has been revolutionized by technology, providing consumers with a wide range of entertainment options. Thanks to newer streaming technologies, smartphone accessibility, smart TVs, personalized recommendations and the use of VPNs, Canadians can now experience a seamless and varied streaming experience.
Also, thanks to technological advancements, streamers can now access UK material such as BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world. Canada’s world of VOD streaming has grown into an exciting gateway to international entertainment, whether it’s riveting British dramas or thought-provoking documentaries or award ceremonies BAFTA and competitions like Eurovision can be streamed buffer-free.
in conclusion
So grab your popcorn, sit back, and explore the plethora of content technology has put at your fingertips. With the power of VOD streaming platforms and technology, you can discover unlimited entertainment content. Happy streaming!