VidTech

2019 Video Developer Report – The Future of Video: AV1 Codec, AI & Machine Learning, and Low Latency

Stefan Lederer
. 3 min read
- Bitmovin

- Bitmovin

Download now: The 2019 Video Developer Report reveals the immense growth opportunities today’s developers must evaluate and some of the major challenges they face.

In its third year, the Bitmovin Video Developer Report provides key insights into the evolving technology trends of the digital video industry; we’ve also revamped the look and feel of the report! This year, Bitmovin’s report resulted in 542 participants from 108 different countries, a major increase from previous years! This report acts as a handy reference for how the video streaming industry is shaped by consumer demands and technology challenges.
The insights from the gathered data reveal a combination of specific trends in video technology usage and a holistic picture of what developers are hoping (and planning) for in the coming year. This report identified that AV1, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Low Latency are the latest trends in video development, but why? And how! The 2019 Video Developer report covers these hot topics with excellent insights and recommendations for the future of the industry. 
The report starts with an overview of various challenges that modern developers are facing, as well the types of encoding solutions that they implement to help alleviate such problems. This is followed by an insightful look into Video Codecs, Streaming Formats, and the current/future implementations of AI & ML in video infrastructure.
That will transition into player insights, as well as a close look into platform/device usage – broken out by platform/device type and regional responses. To tie all player-oriented information together, the report continues with Monetization models, Digital Rights Management, and the ad structure formats that developers are most sought out by industry experts.
Much like in the video development world, all the content is concluded with a section focusing on performance metrics and analytics models that tell a numerical story of a campaign or projects success!
Now! Here’s a sneak peak into the results of the 2019 Video Developer Report:

Low latency and device playback are still major concerns for video developers

Latency or broadcast delay is the biggest problem being experienced with video technology today, according to over half of global respondents (54 percent). Delivery delays can be a particular pain point for online streaming compared to traditional broadcasters, especially for live sports events.
The next most prevalent issue is ensuring playback on all devices, identified as an issue for 41 percent of global respondents, a nine percent drop-off from the previous years report (50 percent). 
The widespread challenges faced by respondents indicate that developers are tasked with an immensely complex set of responsibilities that attempt to deliver and protect high-quality video, at lower costs.
- Bitmovin

Codecs: The few dominate the many – H.264/AVC remains atop, AAC (audio) controls the market

AV1 has maintained consistent growth in interest with Planned usage set to triple in the coming year. One in five (20 percent) expect to start using AV1 in the coming year. While H.264/AVC maintained a 91 percent usage rate; some respondents indicate that they plan to implement it on other new projects in the following year (resulting in >100% total responses for the category).
- Bitmovin
Which video codecs are you currently using and planning to implement within the next 12 months?

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning are here to stay

One of the largest topics of discussion surrounding video technologies today is the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and/or Machine Learning in video workflows. 56 percent of this year’s respondents indicated that they expect to implement AI/ML-based video workflow solutions within the next two years. We believe that this is a topic that needs to be closely monitored and tested, as this number is predicted to increase. In fact, Bitmovin is already testing new AI/ML-based solutions today.
We had a lot of fun digging into the numbers this year and we are thankful to the many developers that took our survey and making this report possible. Download the full report for a more detailed and insightful analysis of our findings relative to Low Latency, Codecs, AI/ML, and even Digital Rights Management! Other topics covered include: encoding infrastructures, video monetization business models, and video analytics implementations.  You can find the full report with all of our findings at the following link:
Download the Report

Video technology guides and articles

Stefan Lederer

Stefan Lederer

Co-Founder & CEO

Stefan Lederer is a renowned innovator and thought leader in video streaming with a strong background in academic research. Stefan co-created the MPEG-DASH video streaming standard and has contributed to several open-source tools, including DASHEncoder, DASHoverCCN and VLC plugin. Stefan also serves as an external lecturer at the University of Klagenfurt.


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