Optimising streaming

[Sid3335]

hi Guys,

Other than file size, are there any good tips for improving the streaming speed of .flv files?

On my broadband they are fine but on other computers they regularly buffer and end up becoming unwatchable.

[Eye for Video]

While file size has some small part to play in optimizing video, the real critical factor is the bitrate, or quantity of data required to be flowing into the video player for the video to display without interuption (buffering). So a video rendered at 500kbps requires a data stream twice the size a video rendered at 250kbps. The size of the file will have not effect on the size of the stream, only the length of it.
The size of the video display will have a direct effect on the quantity of data required to properly display the video. For example compared to a 320px X 240px, increasing the display size of that video to 480 X 360 requires 2.25 times the space and hence, 2.25 times the data or bitrate to display the same quality video as the smaller screen.
For some guidelines, YouTube's standard bitrate is about 250kbps, intended for a 320 X 240 video. If viewed at that resolution, the quality would be fair. For higher quality video a bitrate of 400kbps or higher is recommended (for 320 X 240). Of course that bitrate would have to be adjust to fit other video screen dimensions, up or down.
Another critical factor is the codec used to compress the video. Just like an mp3 can greatly reduce the size of a audio file, different compression methods can pack more or less quality into any given bitrate. flvs can use On2 or Sorenson but a new codec that's catching on is the H.264. It's touted as packing more quality per bit than comparable codecs.
So know the bitrate of your videos and perhaps offer a smaller dimension screen for non-broadband connections if you expect to maintain similar quality. Or if you want to maintain the screen dimensions, then offer a lower bitrate version to the non-broadband users.
Best wishes,
Eye for Video
www.cidigitalmedia.com