Please note: As of January 2016 we are now referring to bitdash as the Bitmovin Adaptive Streaming Player. You can read more about the Bitmovin rebranding here.
In our second release of version 3, bitdash (the Bitmovin Player) ships with support for timed metadata in ID3 format for HLS and enhanced configuration possibilities to tailor the Bitmovin Player to any use case you have in mind. We have also improved our Timeshift/DVR support and made many other enhancements based on the feedback of our customers and all those helping hands who helped in evaluating the player.
Timed MetaData in ID3 Format
Over the last few years, Metadata has received more and more attention with regard to video streaming. bitdash is also evolving in this direction and supports timed metadata in ID3 format, carried in the MPEG-2 transport stream (HLS). ID3 tags not only allow delivery of useful information such as title, artist, etc., other data about the stream can also be embedded. Using our powerful API, timed metadata enables new usage scenarios, such as events or interaction on your site, at a dedicated point in your stream. We are curious about your application in this context!
Working and Developing with bitdash Made Simple and Powerful
We have tried to build bitdash as a playout service, empowering everyone to build stunning new applications on top of it. This was also what we had in mind during our last improvements for bitdash 3.2. For instance, our newest release enables you to graphically build the user interface which best fits your use-case, on top of bitdash. You can either disable the default UX entirely or only parts of it.
bitdash 3.2 further contains the possibility to overcome small gaps in audio or video streams. The user might not even notice. This reduces stalls and buffering to a minimum, which is definitely beneficial, as stated in our recent blog post, describing the three main problems in video streaming. Also, networking errors are handled more transparently and the player can even recover after some errors have occurred. Regarding DASH support, we have introduced support for SegmentBase based Manifests and also allow absolute URLs in the init or media attribute within the MPD.
Another very useful feature is the possibility to save the current frame as an image (snapshot), using a new API function – getSnapshot(). More details about that and other API commands can be found in our rich online documentation.
Ready for the next step with Firefox
As one of the major browsers, Firefox will officially release its support for the MSE in version 42 at the beginning of next month. This is another step towards replacing Flash and adaptive streaming in HTML5. How standardization effort helps to provide plugin-free video playout on the web and how bitdash fits into that, is summarised in one of our recent posts. However, we have already got our hands on the beta version and are proud to say, bitdash is ready for it!
What’s Coming Next?
Within the next weeks, we will release our completely remodeled licensing. Without revealing too many details, it will enable you to evaluate and use the full feature set of bitdash for free!
All the best,
a Bitmover called Reinhard.
Follow us on Twitter: @bitmovin
