As the broadcast industry transitions from satellite transmission to IP-based streaming, delivering high-quality video streams to third parties—what we call “takers” or “affiliates” — has become essential. But this presents a significant challenge: how do you ensure reliable video quality over unreliable networks?
Addressing the Challenge of Quality Streaming
Zixi and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) have emerged as leading technologies to address this challenge. While both protocols offer unique advantages, one key difference is often overlooked: the visibility of the connection status, particularly regarding packet loss, when streaming to third parties.
Understanding Packet Loss
Packet loss occurs when data packets travelling across a network fail to reach their destination. This can lead to interruptions and degraded video quality, ultimately resulting in a poor viewer experience. In broadcasting, even a small amount of packet loss can have significant repercussions, making it imperative for content providers to have real-time visibility into their streams’ status.
What makes affiliate/taker delivery different is that the receivers are third parties and so have no mechanism to report back their packet loss statistics. Often problems are noticed too late.
Limitations of SRT
While SRT is a popular protocol for streaming, it has notable limitations when it comes to monitoring connection status with third parties. Specifically, it has no mechanism for third parties to report their packet loss back to the sender. This absence of feedback creates a significant blind spot for content providers.
Without knowing whether their takers are experiencing packet loss, content providers cannot react promptly to emerging issues. This can compromise the quality of their streams, potentially leading to a subpar viewing experience for the audience.
When monitored from a central location, SRT only shows “retransmission attempts”. While this gives an indication of issues, it is not definitive.
Advantages of Zixi
With Zixi, in contrast, content providers can monitor packet loss centrally, gaining real-time insights into the status of their streams as they are delivered to third parties (see the image below). This is because the Zixi protocol has in-band transmission of packet loss statistics. This enables them to react swiftly to any issues that may arise, enhancing the reliability of the broadcast, so that viewers ultimately receive the best possible experience.
Conclusion
While both Zixi and SRT offer valuable features, the ability to monitor connection status and packet loss is a significant differentiator. Zixi’s centralised monitoring capabilities empower content providers to maintain high-quality streams and respond effectively to any challenges that may arise during delivery to third parties.
For those planning to shift from satellite to IP-based contribution and primary distribution, Zixi stands out as a superior choice, ensuring the quality and performance expected in the broadcasting industry.
Looking into satellite replacement? Find out how Open Broadcast Systems can help.
