Encoding, storage and delivery

Here are the technical specifications of Kinow video hosting fully based on Amazon Web Services.

Kinow offers a complete chain of fully automated and cloud-based video file ingestion, including transcoding, storage and delivery (CDN).

1. Video transcoding:

Kinow offers the ingestion of video files from the admin panel (drag&drop) or automatically via upload on an S3 bucket.

Kinow is agnostic about the input format sent: master file IMF/DCP or classic formats MP4/MOV/MKV.

The transcoding service will then handle all the workflow: assets generation, DRM insertion and packaging in adaptive-streaming (DASH/HLS).

It’s possible to automate the source files delivery workflow by using a watch folder (S3 bucket) to automatically start transcoding and assets storage operations.

2. Transcoding presets:

AWS Elemental handles transcoding, making it possible to massively encode an unlimited number of files via parallel tasks and without any scalability issues, regardless of the size of the source file, in several output assets.

The maximum resolution goes up to UHD/HDR (3840x2160), through 4:3 or 16:9 format.

We use the following output codecs:

• AVC (H264) for OTT web or set-top box
• HEVC (H265) for natives and compatibles players

It’s possible to have as many output formats as needed. For optimal adaptive-streaming playback, we recommend at least 5 different profiles, which can be set on the fly from the admin panel.

3. Encoding credits:

to encode a video you need encoding credits, which can be purchased from your Kinow member area. Credits are consumed for each video encoded.

The credits consumption depends on the previously selected assets. A basic configuration is provided : 1h encoding credit = 1h source video, including 2 HD assets and 1 SD asset. Of course you can customize the number of activated versions, which means that your credits will be consumed more or less quickly.

4. Source files:

we recommand that you upload a source file with a resolution at least equal (or greater) than the largest HLS asset selected for encoding.

We accept most of video codecs as source files, however, to ensure maximum compatiblity, we recommand you to proved a file encoded using codec MP4/H264. If you are working from DVD, we invite you to use Handbrake.fr freeware, to perform the encoding of your source file.

5. Assets:

The assets configuration can be made through the back-office (in tab "Video source").

Each asset has its own bitrate (for example 8.5Mbps - bitrate/second). Higher the bitrate is, more it requires a high internet connection speed to be broadcasted without interruption.

6. Protection system with DRM:

We provide video encryption during the transcoding processes allowing for content protection via standard DRM (AES 128 with Clearkey) or « Hollywood-grade » (Widevine, PlayReady, Fairplay).

Here is the available configuration with Dash and HLS containers:

• HLS/AES 128 for all devices/browsers
• Dash/Widevine for Chrome/Firefox browsers & Android applications
• Dash/PlayReady for Windows applications
• HLS/Fairplay for Safari browser & iOS application

7. Audio:

The transcoding provides multiple audio channels (5.1) with Dolby Digital codec. The use of Dolby Digital+ (13.1) is possible but needs a paid license for each play/download.

8. Storage:

The tab "File explorer" in back-office display the storage size used for each video encoded (source file + various assets).

Video source file is always kept, in order to be able to re-generate encoding if needed and to provide the file download. This one is never directly broadcasted by the video player: only HLS assets (.TS files) are used for streaming delivery.

Kinow provides a secure storage for the video files (source and post-transcoding) by using the AWS S3 service.

Video files delivery (EST & streaming) is handled by AWS CloudFront CDN, which delivers your content through a worldwide network of data centers called edge locations. When a user requests specific content via CloudFront, they are directed to the edge location that provides the lowest latency (time delay), so that content is delivered with the best performance possible.

The delivery is protected using a temporary token system.

To reduce delivery costs, we recommend, to the extent possible, to use the HEVC (H265) codec in order to compress the source files as much as possible before reading them on a client application.

9. Video player:

Video files are delivered in streaming using a video player 100% HTML5/CSS3, Bitmovin, compatible with most of the recent browsers.