This week we’re rolling out our Player Platform 2.0, which includes some important player enhancements that may be hard to visualize but will, no doubt, add great value for our customers. The roll out and enhancements come right on the heels of our integration with Adobe Flash Media Server (FMS) 3.5 completed this summer.

First, the new Player Platform 2.0 seamlessly integrates Encrypted Dynamic Streaming as an alternative to our standard Progressive Download media-delivery service. Second, we’re adding the ability for clients to restrict the domains on which their video players will play – also known as Domain Locking. Finally, our player is now lighter, which will mean quicker media load times.

Changing it Up

In short, encrypted dynamic streaming equals a bit of player sleight-of-hand. Our dynamic streaming service switches seamlessly between various quality (bitrate) versions of a single video to deliver the optimal viewing experience for site visitors. Users whose systems can support it will enjoy true HD viewing; those with lower processing power or slower connections will still benefit from buffer-free plays and seeing the best picture possible.

Enhanced stream protection included with the new service protects videos from being saved or modified. And as a bonus, improved seek capabilities let users skip to any point in a video without having to wait for the rest of the file to buffer.

That said, encrypted dynamic streaming isn’t for everyone. The service is ideal for sites that offer premium or long-form content. Also, those needing to stream to an audience with a range of bandwidth capabilities, and clients who need to control access to their video files. Sites delivering short-form or mostly user-generated content, and those delivering primarily to mobile devices or users without persistent network access, will likely be better off staying with progressive download.

Locking It Down

If you want to control access to your players and content, or deliver video in a restricted environment, VMIX domain locking lets you create a select whitelist of sites on which your video player will play. If the player is embedded on any other domain, it’ll load but it won’t play videos. This obviously discourages the embedding of players (and videos served using those players) on sites outside your desired domains.

For clients who want to restrict media access to a specific country and region, I should also mention a lesser-known VMIX player feature. Geo restriction lets clients limit media access to end users in a defined geographic area. The service matches viewers’ IP addresses to the assumed location for IP addresses in that range. If the IP address is within the allowed region, the video is served. If not, no video!

Slimming It Down

Finally and briefly, the VMIX video player is now much lighter and faster, and in our business quicker is almost always better!

More information on Player Platform 2.0 is available online, or contact us and we’ll be happy to give you the personal tour.