过去20年的20大流媒体技术

Standards are important, but sometimes standards bodies move slower than the pace of innovation. The streaming industry can respond to this in one of two ways: Wait until a standard is ratified, 或者使用能够解决短期问题的技术, 希望这项技术本身被广泛采用，成为事实上的标准.

我们要求受访者从30多项技术中选出20项最受欢迎的技术. The following technologies rose to the top of overall responses when judged in terms of their impact on the streaming media industry.

前20名

以下技术获得的投票阈值高于总投票的50%. 除非另有说明，否则定义来自流媒体术语.

FFmpeg

投票百分比:100%

定义. FFmpeg的网站称其为“完整的”, 跨平台的录音解决方案, 转换, 流媒体音频和视频,这句话很好地概括了这一点. FFmpeg的目的是提供编码, 代码转换, 以及各种编解码器中各种媒体内容的解码. 最初的FFmpeg还包括一个服务器版本, ffserver, but it was dropped when it was deemed too “hard for users to deploy and run due to reliability issues, 缺乏知识渊博的人员提供帮助，并且配置文件语法混乱,根据开发者的说法.

为什么重要?. FFmpeg的成功不可低估, 而FFmpeg是唯一获得全票通过的技术. 随着越来越多的编解码器被集成到FFmpeg中, the entire digital media industry moves closer to an open-source encoding and 代码转换 solution that is robust and universally accepted. 例如，版本3.3“希尔伯特”包括苹果Pixlet解码器和NewTek SpeedHQ解码器, two proprietary codecs that had been kept at arm’s length from the industry as part of the proprietary push by each company to own its portion of the video production ecosystem, 版本3.4 “Cantor” includes a NewTek NDI interface connector and spec compliant VP9 muxing support in MP4.

QuickTime (QT)和QT播放器

投票率:86%

定义. Apple开发的专有媒体技术，包括容器格式(.MOV) and a multi-codec player that could play a number of the key codecs and container formats of the day. Apple developed the QuickTime Player to play back content encoded with QuickTime-compliant codecs, QuickTime Player是第一个引入本地H.264年支持.

为什么重要?. 早在流媒体出现之前，苹果就已经开始支持渐进式下载了. 考虑到行业中大量的编解码器, 虽然, Apple needed a way to approve the various codecs that are approved for use in encoding and decoding. Multimedia content authors knew they could confidently choose any of the codecs supported by QuickTime for a variety of reasons (e.g.，动画，全动态视频，说话头等.). QuickTime expanded to provide interactive elements and became the basis of both the ISO Base Media File Format (MP4) and the MPEG-4 System standard. 近年来, 苹果已经不再强调QuickTime播放器，而是支持iOS设备中的嵌入式播放器, 最近在Mac OSX上的QuickTime Player借鉴了iOS媒体播放器的经验教训.

Flash (Macromedia Shockwave)

投票率:71%

定义. 由Macromedia发布的基于矢量的动画和交互格式, 通常用于网络上的叙事作品, 还包括嵌入数据结构的能力, 包括视频. 曾经叫冲击波, 由于收购了Macromedia, Flash现在由Adobe公司开发.

为什么重要?. 而MPEG-4系统却摇摇欲坠, Flash提供了一个强大的创作解决方案，其核心是交互性. 像这样, it was easier to disengage Flash from Macromedia Director—used for interactive learning kiosks as well as CD/DVD authoring—when the lure of web-based interactivity began to rear its head.

媒体服务器

投票率:71%

定义. A computer designated as a server is located between the network core and a user's edge device, 通常称为客户端设备. The server is tasked with delivering content to clients through the use of specialized software, 从打印和文件存储到流媒体传输.

为什么重要?. 流媒体行业, 媒体服务器处理各种任务:转码(为不同的编解码器重新编码), 转换(更改数据速率和/或分辨率), 以及重新包装(重新格式化以传送到移动设备), 桌面, 和其他设备). 那些过去需要服务器操作流特定协议的任务(例如.g.， rtsp, rtmp). 随着更长的延迟的出现, 基于http的, small-segment streaming delivery—much of which is served from a standard HTTP server—the primary reasons for using a streaming media server often center on lower latencies.

Flash播放器 (冲击波的球员)

投票率:71%

定义. Flash播放器 is an Adobe plugin that allows Flash content and Flash Video to be played within a compatible mobile or 桌面 web browser. Flash播放器功能也包含在AIR (Adobe集成运行时)中.

为什么重要?. 冲击波的球员, 最初由Macromedia使用，允许简单的在线互动游戏, 是Adobe在线视频业务增长的关键. 更名后的Flash播放器增加了对多种视频编解码器的支持，包括H.264(又名高级视频编码或MPEG-4第10部分), 即使Flash播放器仍然需要专有的扩展，如F4V和FMV. Flash播放器, 作为各种web浏览器的插件, 比几乎所有人预期的都要长得多, 但正如史蒂夫·乔布斯的名言, 在iOS设备中选择不包含原生Flash播放器支持时, 是时候让Adobe“专注于为未来创造优秀的HTML5工具”了, 而不是批评苹果抛弃了过去.”

数字版权管理(DRM)

投票率:57%

定义. Almost everyone agrees with a portion of this simplified definition found at TechTarget: “Digital rights management (DRM) is a systematic approach to copyright protection for digital media.但就连这一点也有待商榷, 这取决于你对版权的看法有多自由, turning this technology into a highly politicized group of access controls designed to prevent copying, 将内容访问限制在特定时间段, 或者限制使用特定数量的设备. 一方面, there’s a feeling that “[t]he purpose of DRM is to prevent unauthorized redistribution of digital media and restrict the ways consumers can copy content they've purchased,TechTarget指出. 另一方面, 有种感觉, 电子自由基金会(EFF)写道, “DRM technologies attempt to control what you can and can't do with the media and hardware you've purchased.”

为什么重要?. 如果你是版权所有者, it matters because you’re more likely to agree with TechTarget that “DRM products were developed in response to the rapid increase in online piracy of commercially marketed material, 通过广泛使用点对点文件交换程序而激增的是什么.“另一方面, the more libertarian consumer of DRM-protected media might side with the EFF’s assessment that “Corporations claim that DRM is necessary to fight copyright infringement online and keep consumers safe from viruses. 但没有证据表明DRM有助于解决这两个问题. 粉丝不应该被当作罪犯对待, 公司不应该自动否决用户的选择和创新.”

Windows Media编解码器(WMA, WMV)

投票率:57%

定义. Windows Media is Microsoft's proprietary legacy media format that housed audio, video, and metadata. Windows Media Player (WMP) is a multi-format video player that was initially developed by Microsoft for use with Microsoft-specific formats (e.g.， wma, wmv, wav). WMP包含媒体播放器和媒体库应用程序.

为什么重要?. 最新版本的微软Windows操作系统, Windows 8和Windows 10, 有WMP的版本吗, 但Windows 8的嵌入式版本(Windows RT)不使用WMP. Microsoft has deprecated the Windows Media Server in favor of integrating the services into its standard Windows Server, 使用Microsoft IIS Media Services.0(2011年发布)遵循Windows Server 2008的生命周期, 但是对遗留格式的支持在可预见的将来仍将继续. 微软也弃用了它的专有编码器, 比如Windows Media Encoder 9系列, 支持H.264编码, but even the Expression series of encoders is also being deprecated with the end of support of Microsoft Silverlight.

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

投票率:57%

定义. According to the Amazon S3 website, “Amazon Simple Storage Service is storage for the Internet. … S3 has a simple web services interface that you can use to store and retrieve any amount of data, 在任何时候, 从网络上的任何地方. 它为任何开发人员提供了相同的高度可伸缩的访问权限, 可靠的, 快, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. 该服务旨在最大化规模效益，并将这些效益传递给开发者.”

为什么重要?. Amazon S3允许传统的web接口用于文件存储, 包括可以使用基于http的分段文件流传输的文件. 但是S3也允许使用BitTorrent客户端进行更创新的点对点分发. “The costs of client/server distribution increase linearly as the number of users downloading objects increases, (这)会使分发受欢迎的对象变得昂贵,S3网站说. “BitTorrent addresses this problem by recruiting the very clients that are downloading the object as distributors themselves: Each client downloads some pieces of the object from Amazon S3 and some from other clients, 同时上传同一物品的碎片给其他感兴趣的“同伴”.他说，这对发行商来说是一大好处, popular files the amount of data actually supplied by Amazon S3 can be substantially lower than what it would have been serving the same clients via client/server download.”

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